Can You Help Me?
by ElectricGhost
Summary: Riku had a very troubled life; Betrayed by almost everyone he knew. With every passing year, he has become more cold and distant, shutting out everyone. But with the new friendship from Sora, maybe he can finally open up again. RikuxSora AkuRoku Yoai
1. Chapter 1

**Can You Help Me?  
**

**Description: **Sora has always been a kind person; Giving help to anyone that needed it. Riku has had a troubled life, and in turn, shuts anyone out that tries to help him. Can Sora be the one to help Riku not be so cold and distant? [RikuxSora]

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Never have, never will...*sigh* Anyways! This, my lovely readers, is **MY** story. Everything in it was **MY** idea. Take anything from it, and you will regret it. So ok, lets get to the ages of the characters. Riku is 23, Sora is 21, Axel is 24, Roxas is 21, Cloud is 25, Leon is 26, Namine is 20, Kari is 20, Selphie is 21, Demyx is 22 and um...any other characters that pop up in the story...I'll mention their age :]

**Rating/Warning:** Mature - Language, Violence, Yaoi later on ;], all that jazz

**A/N: **Alrighty then folks :] This story you see before you, is my first one, so don't be cruel! It probably starts out slow, but it'll get better throughout so bear with me! Reviews would be much appreciated :p So I know if I'm doing a good job or not. Enjoy! Read till our hearts content!!

* * *

**.::Chapter One::.**

I laid motionless in my bed, not having any motivation to actually get up and start my day. The pitter-patter of rain drops hitting the windows can be heard all throughout the small house. Another flash of lighting,then the boom of thunder was heard, making the house shake a little. I flinched slightly from the thunder. I never really liked thunderstorms, they always scared me when I was younger; They still do now, just not as much. Thought I'd never admit that to anyone. I sighed, and ran my hand through my silver hair. Opening my sea-foam colored eyes, I turn towards my clock to see what time it was.

It read, **_6:23_**, in big bright green letters. I groaned out loud. This has been going on for months. Every time I try to go to bed, I can't; So I toss and turn, getting about 2 hours of sleep,then waking up before my alarm even goes off. I wish I had some damn sleeping pills. It all because of the dreams I've been having. They were all about my life. It's not like they just randomly stated, oh no, I've had them before, it's just been a while since I started to dream about it again. I twitched slightly, having thought of the dream I just had, more of a flash back really. Such bad memories, even from when I was seven. I can remember them perfectly,like it just happened...

_***_

_"Bye guys!" I yelled_, _waving my arm around enthusiastically and having a big smile on my face. My friends waved back, and then went on their way home. I turned around and started to walk towards my front door."Mommy, Daddy! I'm home!" I yelled, closing the door behind me. First taking off my shoes, I then went to the living room. _

_"Mommy?" I asked, peeking my head in the room, but no one was there. 'Hmm...I wonder where they could be.' I asked myself. I tried the dining room, but they weren't there either. Then that is when I heard my mom's voice come from the kitchen. I spun around and quickly walked towards the kitchen. _

_"Mommy! You'll never guess what I did today! Tidus showed me how to swim,and I think I finally got...the..." My words died in my throat. I saw my mom laying on the kitchen floor, not moving. I ran over to her, and knelled down next to her. "Mommy? Are you ok?" I asked, shaking her slightly. Then she moved. She was looking up at me. I could tell she had been crying because her eyes were all red and puffy. There was also something else. It was red, and it was everywhere. I think it was blood? "Are you hurt mommy?" I asked her.  
_

_"Riku, honey, I need.." She coughed, then breathed in deeply before speaking again. "I need to you go to Mrs. Tanaka's house, and tell her to call the police." She suddenly stopped and started to cough up blood. _

_"Mommy! What's wrong!"I yelled, touching her arm.  
_

_"Everything is going to be fine sweetie, just go and do what I told you." She said sternly. _

_I paused before asking. "What about daddy?" She then looked panicked. "Whatever you do, don't let him see you. He hurt mommy and I don't know if he'll hurt you." She said, chocking back a sob. My eye's widened. He hurt her? But why...why would he do something like this?_

_"Riku, go! Do what mommy said! And stay over there until I come and get you!" She said, using all the strength she had left to push me towards the door. "Riku, I want you to know that I'll always love you." She said, now fully crying. _

_"I love you too mommy.." I said, feeling my eyes water._

_"What's going on here?"_

_I looked up to see my Dad, standing in the other room staring at me and my Mom. I looked and he had something in his hand. I didn't know what it was until he moved slightly, letting the light hit the object. I gasped. It was a gun. "Leave Riku out of this! It's between you and me!" My mother yelled at him. She looked back to me then whispered, "Go." I stood up, and ran. I ran as fast as I could to the door. My dad tried to grab me, but missed. _

_"You bitch! What did you tell him to do?!" He screamed, pointing the gun at my mom. "Tell me what you said!" She stayed silent. He growled in frustration, and walked over to her. "Fine, you asked for this." He said, clicking the gun and aiming at my mom. She started to panic, and try to move. She couldn't. She lost so much blood, that she was too weak to move._

_I was outside by then, running to Mrs. Tanaka's house. Then I heard it. The gun went off, and my mom scream. I tripped and fell onto the sidewalk, but then hurriedly got backup and kept on running to Mrs. Tanaka's house. I was crying now. I don't know what would happen to my mom, or my dad, but it was just too much for me to handle. I ran up to the house and started pounding on the door. I was scared that he could come after me, I just wanted to be safe inside. _

_"Mrs. Tanaka,open up please!" I yelled, hitting the door harder. "Please let me in!" The door then opened, reveling Mrs. Tanaka standing there._

_"Riku honey what's - oh!" I cut her off by running up and hugging her. _

_"M-my mom is hurt! My Dad hurt mom! S-she said that I-I needed to come here and you need to call the p-police!" I sobbed into her shirt, clinging onto it like it was life. I felt so helpless. _

_She pulled her arms around me, and hugged me. "Riku, your mom is going to be fine. Taro! Get the phone and call the police!" She yelled over to her husband, who simply nodded and rushed to get the phone. Faintly in the background I could hear him explaining what was going on to the police and that they needed to get here soon. All I could do was cry. I didn't know what else to do..._

_Mrs. Tanaka carried me over to the couch, and sat me on her lap, rocking me back and forth. I still just cried, but then my crying had seemed to die down. All that could be heard was me sniffling into her shirt, and her whispering that everything will be fine. Somehow, I drifted off to sleep.._

_***_

I felt a tear come down my face, but I quickly wiped it away. Some how he manged to slip away unnoticed. It took the police an entire year to find the bastard. They finally found him living in a place called Traverse Town, where he apparently had some kind of business or something along the lines of that. He went on with his life like nothing happened. Bastard. He's serving life sentence in jail. Serves him right for what he did. As for me, oh where do I begin. After he killed my mom, I went to go live with my grandmother. She was the only family I had left. She was like a second mom to me. I lived with her for almost two years, but...then she died of lung cancer. I always knew she had it. I over heard my mother talking to her about it when I was younger. But I never really knew what it was until I asked my grandmother.

I was all alone after that. No family, no place to go. I had to be placed in foster care. I spent nine years going from foster home to foster home. It's not that I was a bad kid or anything. Well not at the beginning anyways. I remember the first family I had. The mother was probably the nicest person in the world. Her name was Miyuki Ikeda. I always called her Mi-yu, never feeling comfortable calling her 'mom'. She had another kid besides me, but he was her actual son. His name was Kenji, he was a year younger than me. I was about ten when they first took me in. Everything was great. I had made a lot of new friends, and finally felt like I had a home. But nothing can be perfect for too long now can it?

Mi-y's husband was the only problem. His name was Ren Ikeda. Two words described him. Abusive, and an alcoholic. It didn't happen when I first was taken in by them, no. Well...at least I don't think. It started to happen a few months later. I would always hear him yelling at her whenever he came home drunk. You see, he lost his job,and everything just went downhill after that. He started drinking to 'get rid of the pain' as he would say. But, he never knew when to stop.

At nights, when ever I was trying to fall asleep, I would hear him. Yelling, screaming at Mi-yu like she was some sort of worthless person. I tried to shut it out, but I never could. Hearing him yell at her always made me think of what my father did to my mom. One night, when they were arguing over something meaningless, I heard him slap her.

_***_

_I was laying in my bed, trying to fall asleep. All I could hear was them fighting. It seemed to be happening a lot lately. I pushed the pillow harder against my ear, hoping it would drown out the noise. It didn't. I could hear everything from my room that I shared with Kenji. He was already fast asleep. Lucky. If only I could be fast asleep right now. I heard a crash from the other room, making me flinch. Then I heard someone fall on the floor._

_"Your lying to me! I just know you are you whore. I know you went out and were sleeping with some other guy!" He yelled, throwing another dish onto the floor. "Am I not good enough? Hmm? Is that it!"_

_"Honey, I didn't go anywhere tonight. I never go out, your just over reacting." Mi-yu said calmly. She was use to him getting angry all the time, that it doesn't even phase her anymore. _

_"Don't tell me how I should react! I know your lying, and now your blaming it on me!" He yelled. _

_"I never blamed it on you, now just leave me alone." She whispered, obviously too tired to deal with his insanity._

_"Don't tell me what to do!" He yelled again. "What are you- stop! Ren stop it! I'm telling you you to-". A slap was heard, and nothing more. She stopped talking. This was the first time he actually hit her. I held my breath for a second, thinking the worst. Then I heard him speak again._

_"That will teach you to stay in your place." He said with anger dripping from every word. He walked away to his room, slamming the door shut. Nothing can be heard for a while, but then I heard her crying. That just broke my heart. Why do people have to hurt other people. It's just not right,and they don't even see that it's wrong! I sat up in my bed, pulled off the covers and made my way down from the top bed bunk. I made my way to the door, and slowly opened it. Mi-yu was sitting on the floor,leaning against the wall, crying quietly. I walked over to her, and gave her a hug._

_She gasped and flinched in surprise. "Riku." She sniffled,wiping away some tears from her face. "What are you doing still awake?" She asked. _

_"I'm sorry Mi-yu." I said, hugging her tighter. _

_She looked confused for a second. "Sorry for what?" _

_"For Ren hitting you." I mumbled quietly into her shoulder. She sat there in silence for a minute, then she finally hugged me back. "It's not your fault sweetie. He's just...confused that's all." She said, trying to even convince her self that it wasn't really his fault. _

_"No it's not. He's not suppose to do that to you!" I said, raising my voice a little. She shushed me my placing a finger on my lips. She looked at me with a forced smile on her face._

_"Everything's going to be fine don't you worry about it." She said."Now run off and go to bed,or else you'll be too tired to play with your friends tomorrow." I nodded, giving her one last hug, then going back to my room. I crawled back into my top bunk bed, and closed my eyes.  
_

_'You lied' I thought, 'Everything isn't going to be fine. I just know it's not.'_

_*__**_

I don't even want to think about what else happened. I turned and looked at the clock again. It read **6:48**.I still could stay in my bed, but I figured if I do, I'd either never want to get up, or just keep on thinking of all the crap that's happened to me. I slowly rolled sat up, stretching a bit, then got up. I walked over to the bathroom, to brush my teeth. I looked in the mirror.

'_Ew."_ I thought. I looked horrible. Dark circles under my bloodshot red eyes. My hair was all messed up and tangled. I look like death. Ugh. I quickly combed my long hair, hoping to make it look, a little decent. It's gotten really long. I've just been too lazy to actually get it cut really. I walked slowly out of my room, towards the kitchen. My roommate Axel Takahashi was already up,watching TV and eating breakfast. Axel was my best friend. He was one of the very few people I actually trust. And he's also the only one that knows everything that happened to me.

I met him when I was nine, in the foster care program. He was my first friend there. We kept in touch all the time, even if a family came to take us away from each other. I've known him for fourteen years. Long time, I know. He's been there for me whenever I needed it, and didn't screw me over like half the people I knew.

Axel went into foster care when he was six or seven. He said that his parents apparently didn't want him anymore, so they just gave him away. Not a lot of families took him. Probably because of the way he looked. He was tall, skinny, with ridiculously bright red spiky hair. How his hair stays like that, I'll never know. It seriously defies gravity. He has bright green eyes, kinda like mine. And these little triangle tattoos under his eyes. He didn't always have those tattoos. He got them when he was sixteen. I was there with him when he got them.

When we both turned eighteen, we were out of the foster care. We decided to get a place together, and just lived with each other even since. To think that was only a few years ago. The house we got wasn't exactly fancy and big, but wasn't like crap either. It was big enough for us to live in. It's very...nice.

I opened the cabinet to get a cup for the coffee I was making. Axel heard, and spun his head around to look at me. "Morning sunshine!" He said, with a mouth full of food.

"Hm." I mumbled, answering him.

"I made some waffles,do you want some?" He asked.

I shook my head. "Nope. I have my coffee. That's good enough for me." I said. Axel then had a look of disappointment on his face.

"You really don't want some? I made them from scratch!They're really good!" He said cheerfully. I looked around the kitchen. There was flour, everywhere. The waffle mix was splattered on some parts of the kitchen, and so...many..dishes.

"I can tell." I said looking around. "This place is a mess. You better clean it up because I sure as hell won't." I took a sip of coffee from my cup and walked over to where Axel was sitting.

He laughed a little bringing that oh so familiar grin to his face. "Why are you so grumpy this morning." He asked, then took another bite from his waffles.

"Axel, you of all people should know I'm not a morning person." How can people wake up and be so full of energy? Its disgusting! Me, I'd rather sleep in till noon and then get started with my day. Axel on the other hand. God. He's the worst morning person in the world. He get's up at 5:30 every morning. _Every morning!_ Even on the weekends. I don't know how he does it. He use to wake me up all the time, until I finally threatened him. I wasn't serious, but he thought I was. Worked out for me.

Axel looked up from his plate of waffles to me. "Then why are you up so early anyways." He asked me, spraying waffle bits everywhere. **Ew**.

I had a half-scowl on my face. "I have to work today, or else my ass would be back in bed sleeping, and can you learn not to spray food everywhere; It's disgusting." I said, shoving a napkin towards his face. He looked at me, and then took the napkin, wiping the syrup off his face.

"I thought you weren't suppose to work on...what's today..oh yeah! Friday!" He said. "So why the sudden change."

I shrugged. The never did tell me why, and I never bothered to ask."They just changed it so I have to work Friday's instead of Saturdays." I replied, looking out the kitchen window. "Personally, I like it better. Then I won't have to waste my Saturday mornings at that place."

I work as a mechanic for the Twilight Town Auto Center. It's a hard job, but it brings in a lot of money. Axel works at some Cafe downtown. It's actually a really nice place. I always go there since I'm a coffee fiend as Axel would say. I shivered slightly. Axel must have noticed that.

"You know" He started, looking at me. "You probably wouldn't be so cold if you had some clothes on." He said. I looked down at myself. I was only wearing my boxers. Huh, I didn't even notice that.

"I'm gonna go get dressed." I said, getting up. "But first-" I snatched a waffle away from his plate, and walked away towards my room. "Hey fatty that was mine!" He shouted. I took a bite of the waffle. Hmm. They are really good. I wonder if I can get him to make them all the time. Eh. No...the kitchen would constantly look like a tornado went through it.

My thoughts were interrupted by him. "Oh, by the way, dress warm! It's suppose to snow today!" I heard Axel shout from the kitchen. Ugh. Snow. I _hate_ the snow. It was always so...cold. I made it to my room,scanning it for clothes. What to wear. I went my dresser and picked out a black shirt with a light blue and silver design on it. I sniffed it. Yes! It smelled clean. I slipped it on, and then looked around the room for pants.

...Where the hell are all my pants.

I sighed in frustration. "Hey Axel!" I shouted, peeking my head from my room.

"Yeah?" He answered from the living room.

"Have you seen any of my pants?"

There was a few seconds of silence.

"Well wouldn't they be in the laundry?"

I blinked. Then hit my head with my hand. I never did the laundry. Now I don't have any pants...Ugh.

"Axel!" I called out again.

"What!"

"I'm gonna raid your closet for some pants." I started walking over to his room.

"Have fun with that Riku." He remarked. I opened the door to his room. My eyes scanned his place. Dear...god. How could he live like this? There were clothes thrown all over the floor and on the dresser. The closest was wide open reveling un-used hangers. Of course. The bed wasn't made. Some how the pillows made on into the floor and..one was even under the mattress? Basically, it was just an absolute mess. I cautiously stepped inside,not wanting to trip over anything. But, my attempt at that was very unsuccessful. I did in fact, trip and fell, hard.

My face made contact with the floor. "Ahh, fuck." I groaned out in pain, grabbing my head. What the hell did I trip on anyways? I looked down near my foot. Pants...I tripped on some damn pants. I don't even know how I managed to do that. I scowled as I sat up,closing my eyes in pain.

"Hey man," I looked up to see Axel leaning on the door frame, a slight smirk on his face. "you alright?"

I glared at him. "Your room is possessed. I kid you not. Every time I walk in here, something comes out and attacks me! Like these pants"I said, thrashing the pants around in the air. "They're out to get me!" I pushed myself off the floor, and straightened my shirt.

He chuckled in response. "Maybe your just a klutz, ever think of that?"

I scowled a little. He was right. I always did manage to hurt myself. Somehow. Someway. "Yeah yeah, whatever. Now help me find some pants. I'm gonna be late for work." I said,glancing at his clock.

"What bout the ones that 'attacked' you?" He said putting air quotes around the word attacked. I glanced down at my hand. Eh. Dark blue skinny jeans. I never was a big fan skinny jeans. Even though Axel said I looked good in them.

"You won't mind if I get them dirty?" I asked, looking at him.

He walked over to his bed and laid down. "Nah," He put his hands behind his head,closing his eyes. "they're pretty old anyways."

I looked over at him. "Thanks." I said, putting the pants on. I heard him mutter something along the lines of 'no problem'.

Um; Wow. The pants were...we're very...tight. I'm not surprised though. It_ was _Axel's pants. The man is a stick, I swear. Yet he eats like he's some sort of bottomless pit.

I huffed. "My god Axel, do you have to be so damn skinny?" I said, trying to fix the pants. He opened one eye and looked at me.

"Why yes,yes I do." He stated. "Maybe you should lose some weight, then you'll fit into them no problem." I glared in his direction. He put his hands up, looking like he's defending himself.

"I'm kidding!" He said "Besides, your perfect. With that muscular god-like body of yours." He winked at me.

I laughed "Damn right I am." He laughed to. "So I'll see you whenever you get back from work." He said, drifting his eyes back closed.

"Yeah, see you then." I muttered before walking out of his room. I made it near the front door,put on my shoes and grabbed my black jacket. Reaching for my keys, I stopped.I forgot that my car was in the shop. Looks like I was walking to work today. It wasn't that far,really. Maybe a mile. I'll live. I opened the door,letting the cold winter air hit me. I pulled the jacket closer to my body, and shoved my hands into my pockets.

Looking around I let my mind wander. Twilight Town was a nice place to live in. It wasn't like those big noisy cities, but it wasn't a small little hick town either. It was just right. A loud noise caught my attention. I looked straight ahead of me.

There was a moving truck. I blinked. Someone was moving in here? No one new has moved here in years. I looked to see two guys bringing boxes out from the moving truck. One had blond spiky hair, with bright blue eyes. He was, kinda short. He wore a white winter jacket, with black shirt underneath, and navy blue skinny jeans. There was also someone else with him. He looked a lot like the first guy, except he had brown hair that seemed to defy gravity, just like Axel's. He was short too, just like the guy next to him. He wore a light blue jacket with a white shirt underneath and black baggy pants.

My attention came back to what was in front of me. They seemed ok, from what I can see anyways. But, never judge a person before you actually get to know them. You'd be surprised really...

"Hey there!"

That loud voice snapped me out from my thoughts, and made me freeze in mid-step. I look over to see the brunette smiling and waving towards...me? I look around myself. No one else was here. Hmm; He really was waving to me.

"Are you one of our new neighbors?" He asked. I raised one eyebrow. Did he really just stop a random stranger to ask that?

The blond guy came over and walked in front of him. "Stop it, your probably scaring him." He scolded, then looked to me. "I'm sorry about my brother. He's just very; Friendly." Blond boy said, smiling sheepishly.

I just gave them one more weird look, before started walking away. I was already late for work and couldn't afford stopping and 'talking' with the new neighbors. God...my boss was gonna kill me.

***

I finally made it to work, twenty minutes late. Thankfully my boss, Leon, didn't know. And I hope it stays that way. I got right to working on this car I have been slaving over the past two days. I swear,the owner found _every_ little damn thing to break in his car. Of course, _I_ got stuck fixing it. I just love the luck I have. As of right now, I'm under the car doing an oil change. God it was so messy. Oh so messy. Somehow I managed to get it all over me even though I tried not to. I probably looked like I got into a fight with some sort of oil monster -- and lost; Badly.

"Riku!" The voice boomed through out the shop. It scared me! I was so focused on that damn oil change that I had a little spazz attack, and hit my head on some pipe.

I came out from under the car and grabbed my head. "God damn.." I groaned out in pain. Why does everything have to hurt me today?

I heard to clicking of heals coming closer to me.

"Shit..." I whispered. Not her. The sound of her walking stopped. I opened my eyes to see my boss standing over me, with a not-so-happy expression on her face.

"Riku, you were late for work, _again!_ It's the fifth time this month!" Kairi said, anger clearly written all over her face. "What am I going to do with you?!" She threw her hands in the air.

Even though she didn't look intimidating, she was. Kairi Yamada is the definition of it! Just, the looks she gives people can kill. I admit, she is a pain in the ass, and a spazz at times, but she really is a good manager. No one else I know could her job. better. And to think she's younger than half the people that work for her.

She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned over me a bit. "Well?"

I bit my bottom lip,trying to come up with something. "I--Um, Well you see, I.." She raised an eyebrow. "I'm waiting." She said.

"Ok well you see, since my car was in the shop,I had to walk to work," I said, pointing to my car across from us. "Go on." She said in a monotone voice.

Come on, think of something. Lie! Lie like your life depends on it- wait - it does depend on it! LIE! "And then there was this little kid. He said he was lost, so I had to help him find his way back. I finally did, his parents were so happy that they wanted me to stay a while so they can thank me, or something. I wanted to leave, I really did!" I paused, taking in a breath. "But they insisted I stay for a while. I didn't want to be rude..so I did."

She looked, unphased by my story. Then what seemed like for ever she finally spoke up. "Oh Riku.." She started, with a - smile? Did she buy it!? "That was the biggest load of bull shit I've ever heard." Well, the tiny amount of hope I had just died. "Now tell me what really happened."

I sighed,moving my bangs out of my eyes. "I forgot that my car was here,so I had to walk. I guess I lost track of time. Sorry.." I mumbled the last part. She looked pleased with my answer,even though she was still upset.

She finally stopped leaning over me. "Well...just, don't let it happen again," She said. "or else your fired." With that, Kairi turned and walked away. I let a sigh of relief out. "Thank god." I said quietly to myself.

"Man, I really thought she was gonna kill you Riku." I looked over to see Cloud standing next to me smirking. Cloud works here with me in the auto shop, but he work up at the front. All he has to do is sit on his ass all day and fill out some paper work. Something along the lines of that. Lucky bum.

"I know." I said "I don't think she'll fire me. I'm one of the hardest workers here. So I'm safe." I said looking into Cloud's bright blue eyes.

He laughed a little. "Everyone here knows that's true." He said looking around the shop. After a few moments of silence, he spoke up again. "So how's the car you've been working on?"

I groaned. "Horrible. This guy managed to break everything in it!" I yelled. "I don't even know how it managed to survive this long."

I wasn't exaggerating. This car was a piece of shit. A gross rusty, old, pick up truck.

Cloud ran his hand through his bright blond spiky hair. "Well are you almost done with it?" He asked, sounding interested.

"Just, a few more seconds of tweaking this and - Ha! There!" I yelled. "I'm Finally done with it" I dropped the tool from my hand to the ground, utterly exhausted. I sighed, proud that I actually fixed it. It took me almost three days, but I finally got it done.

I heard Cloud laugh. "Well congratulations," He started, slight sarcasm in his voice. "Well since we're almost done here how about we-" He was cut off by a little 'ding' of the bell in the front desk. Someone was probably here to pick up their car. No bid deal. "I'd better go get that." With that, he walked off,leaving me sitting against the car. I glanced over at who he was talking to, but couldn't see.

Cloud started to walk over to me with someone following him close behind. "Hey Riku!" I looked at him. "You finally get to see who's caused you so much time and pain with that car!" He shouted.

I look to see him move out of the way, reveling the boy that has been following him.

What a small world.

It was that brunette kid I saw earlier today with the moving truck.

He looked over at me and put a smile on his face, showing off his perfect white teeth. I got a closer look at him. He had perfectly sun kissed skin, looking like he just came from the islands. His light chocolate brown hair sticking out in spikes. And his eyes. They were the deepest color blue I've ever seen. It was like staring into an ocean. He wasn't that bad looking - pretty cute actually. Oh, if you didn't already know, I'm bi. Yeah, I decided that a few years ago, so did Axel.

He stuck out his hand "I'm Sora" He said grinning. "I'm guessing your the poor guy that was stuck working on my piece of junk, right?"

I looked at his hand for a second, before hesitantly reaching mine out to grab his and shake it. "Yeah, I was." I let go of his hand, warmth suddenly leaving mine.

"I didn't quite catch your name." He said, looking into my eyes.

I paused a second. "Riku."

"Riku, nice to meet you." A smile was on his face again. Was this kid always this happy?

"Yeah," I mumbled "nice to meet you to."

* * *

**A/N: **Ahhh! The first chapter is finally finished! MY hand is cramping from writing so much XD So yeah, there will be more to come in the future chapters, along with more stories of RIku's childhood and such. I'll try to update soon :] So what do you guys think of it so far?


	2. Chapter 2

**Can You Help Me?  
**

**Description: **Sora has always been a kind person; Giving help to anyone that needed it. Riku has had a troubled life, and in turn, shuts anyone out that tries to help him. Can Sora be the one to help Riku not be so cold and distant? [RikuxSora]

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Never have, never will...*sigh* Anyways! This, my lovely readers, is **MY** story. Everything in it was **MY** idea. Take anything from it, and you will regret it.

**Rating/Warning:** Mature - Language

**A/N: **Alright, we're moving on to chapter two :] In this chapter it will explain Sora's life and everyone he knows, so it's gonna be in Sora's POV :p More characters will be introduced in this chapter, and more background information. The chapter is gonna be...pretty long. Longer than my first one anyways. Reviews would be much appreciated! Enjoy :D

Another thing; Thanks to everyone that reviewed the first chapter and put it on their favorites list :] It meant a lot to me, now, on with the story!

* * *

**.::Chapter Two::.**

_'So this is it.' _I thought to myself, walking over to the box on the floor, putting one of the last of my things in it. _'We're really moving.' _I smiled, looking around my -now- old room. All the pictures and posters I had hanging on the wall were gone, leaving a blank white wall behind. There wasn't any furniture left, and the bed was gone to. It was just so empty, not even showing that someone actually lived here for almost twenty two years. There was just a few boxes here and there, and some of my stuff that needed to be packed.

I walked over to the window and looked out at the place where I lived for so long. Hallow Bastion. The sun was just rising considering it was only 5:30 in the morning. I never thought I would actually miss this place. I always talked about how I wanted to move and it wouldn't bother me at all; Now it's actually happening, man was I wrong. This house had so many memories in it. My dad built it for my mom when they first got married. She was so happy. Well, I wouldn't know because I wasn't born yet, but that's what my Dad told me time and time again. A year later, my mom had Roxas and I.

We're twins. Everything about us pretty much looks the same, except for the hair. I have brown spiky hair, while he has blond spiky hair. Even though we're twins, we're _nothing_ alike. We use to be at one point, but you know how it is. People grow up, get different friends, and just have different interests. Roxas has always been quite the shy one. He just, takes a while to open up and be himself around people; So most of the time he just keeps to himself if he's around people he doesn't know. He's also a little mean, but it's just one of his many...specialties.

Me on the other hand. I'm very open and friendly. People say I make friends _too_ easily, but hey, I like that about myself. Another thing about me I'm well known for. My niceness. I hear it all the time-

"_Sora, your so nice!"_

_"I don't think I know anyone and caring and kind as you."_

_"Your such a nice friend."_

Makes me feel a little special inside. I always help people with their problems; With a simple task, being there if they needed someone to talk to, helping out anyway I can. It's just, something I can't stop. It feels like I was just put here to do that.

Wait. What was I talking about before...Ah yes, my parents and the house.

My family and I literally grew up in this house. We haven't moved anywhere else ever since this house was built. Everything was perfect. My mom was a wonderful person. She was always in a happy mood, and with that smile of her, she can brighten anyone day. Everyone liked her because she was so nice. That who I got my personality from. She owned a little store that sold clothes, and all that other girly stuff like shoes and...other stuff women enjoyed.

My dad was a all around good guy. He was known by everyone in the town, because he involved himself in making this a better place to live in. He did a good job at making that happen. With his help, we had more houses built, big stores and small businesses opened, and just making it a safer place to live. My dad owned a company that built houses, hence why he helped build so many new houses in the town.

One summer, when Roxas and I turned ten, our dad promised to build us a little cottage at the beach near Hallow Bastion. He's been wanting to do that for years, but has been so busy with fixing the town that he never had time. On our birthday he finally got enough time off to go along with his plans on building the cottage. He went out to get supplies that day, but....

A small tear made it's way slowly down my face, hitting my hand, as I remembered what happened.

***

_"Alright you two, blow out the candles and make a wish!" My mom said, beaming with happiness. I closed my eyes, making my wish and was about to blow out the candles but stopped. I looked over at Roxas; He still had his 'thinking face' on. I waited, and a few seconds passed. Roxas then opened his blue eyes and looked over to me. I smile, tilting my head to the sides slightly, and smiled._

_"Did you make your wish yet?" I asked. He nodded, smiling. We both looked over to the big red and blue cake that was shining brightly with all the candles in it. I took a deep breath in and blew out the candles with Roxas, seeing a few trails a smoke behind. _

_"Woo!" My mom yelled, clapping her hands. "So you two," She said looking at us. "how does it feel to be double digits?" I blinked and looked up at her from the spot on my chair. _

_"It's awesome!" I yelled, throwing my hands up in the air. Roxas nodded his head in agreement._

_"Yeah, it really is." He said quietly, but still smiling brightly. "So um.." He started, fumbling with the button on his jeans. "when are we gonna open present?" He asked, looking up at her._

_My mom rolled her eyes. "Jeez, no matter how old people get it's still always the presents they want." She said, making Roxas and I laugh a little._

_"Well mom, you always like getting presents!" I said, pointing my finger at her. She looked over to me and smiled._

_"Hey, I'm getting old. It's one of the many few good things left I have to look forward to." She said, looking over the clock hanging on the wall behind her. "But your father isn't home yet, so we can't open the presents until then."_

_A long drawn out 'Aw' was heard in protest from both Roxas and I. _

_"Hey, I'm sorry you two, but it wouldn't be the same without him here. And you know it." She said, ruffling our hair a little. "Now, let's eat some cake!" She said, walking over to the kitchen to get some plates and a knife. _

_I moved to the side so I can see her. "Hey!" I shouted. "I thought it wouldn't be the same without dad!" I said, Roxas nodding his head in agreement._

_She peered her head out from the kitchen and looked at us. "Oh silly, that was for the presents." She said, then a smirk came onto her face. "And besides, who can just sit there resisting that cake!" She walked back into the kitchen, plates could be heard clashing around. "I know I can't. I don't have that much will power!" She shouted from the other room._

_I laughed a little, and shifted back down into my seat. "So little brother of mine, what did you wish for?" I asked - more like whispered - leaning in a bit. He looked back at me._

_"I can't tell you!" He said._

_I rose an eyebrow "And why not?" I asked him.  
_

_"Because, then it won't come true!" He stated, like it was something everyone should know. I guess I'm not part of that 'everyone' because I never knew this._

_"Who told you that?"_

_He blushed a little, looking down at his jeans, fumbling with the button again. He whispered something, but I didn't hear._

_"What was that? I didn't hear you." I said, moving closer to him._

_"Aerith Gainsborough." He said, just loud enough for me to hear, but not anyone else. _

_"Really." I mused, smirking a bit. He nodded, then looked over to me._

_"Well yeah, I mean. She's really nice so I don't think she'll lie...I think" He said, looking back at the button on his jeans. He sure finds that button interesting.._

_"Well do you know what I think?" I asked him. A quiet what was heard from him. "I think that you like her."_

_He shot his head up, blue eyes wide, and face covered with a dark red blush. "I-I do not!" He said, stuttering a bit. "S-she's just a really nice girl, a-and she's my friend, so I can't like her like that-" His hand shot up to cover his mouth.  
_

_"A-ha!" I shouted, pointing my finger at him. "I knew it! You do like her!"_

_He shushed me "Sora keep it down!" He said, looking worried. "I don't want everyone in Hollow Bastion to know!"_

_"Don't worry Roxas, your secret is safe with me." I said. He looked convinced, so he just went back to playing with that oh so amusing button._

_It's no surprise that he likes her. I mean, come on; Everyone does. She was really nice first of all, one of the nicest people in this town actually. And she was pretty too, so of course everyone would like her. I remember when they first met two years ago. Roxas and I decided to go for a walk around town, mainly to get out of helping our mom with the yard work in her precious garden. Even though we were eight, out parents didn't mind us walking alone around town. They knew it was safe enough so they didn't care.  
_

_We walked over to the market, and he decided that he wanted some ice cream. He didn't have enough money though; He was off by seven cents. Would it really kill the ice cream guy just to spare seven cents on him? It wasn't going to make that big of a difference anyways. We were going to walk back home, but then we were stopped by some girl. We found out that her name was Aerith. She gave Roxas the extra money he needed for his ice cream. Man was he happy. You should of seen his face._

_After that, they just hit it off, instantly becoming best friends. And to think it all started with just her paying for his sea-salt ice cream._

_I shuttered a little, remembering when I tried it. What a horrible flavor. It's absolutely disgusting; I have no idea how people can eat that stuff. My thoughts were interrupted by my mom walking back into the room with three plates, forks, and one knife._

_"Alright you guys, time to eat some cake." She said, setting down the plates on the table. She picked up the knife, and just started cutting it- but stopped when the phone rang from the living room._

_She took out the knife, and placed it next to the cake. "Oh, that's probably your father. I'll be right back you two." She said, walking off with a smile._

_I watched her, as she picked up the phone. Something wasn't right. A few seconds into her conversation, she looked worried, maybe even a little sick? Who was on the phone and, what did they say to make her look that worried?_

_Roxas looked over to me. "Is it just me, or does mom look upset?" He asked. I shrugged, getting out of my chair, and walking towards my mom. By the time I made it over to her, she was sitting down, her back facing me. I tugging at her sleeve but she lightly pushed me, and turned away from me. I could faintly hear the other person on the phone.  
_

_"Well, is he going to be okay?" She asked, talking into the phone. She gasped , and I saw her grip tighten ever so slightly on the phone. "Okay, we'll be right over." She clicked the phone off, and turned over to look at me. There were tears in her eyes._

_"What's wrong?" I asked innocently. She took a deep breath in, then slowly let it out. _

_"Sora. I need you and your brother to go get dressed." She said_

_"But, why? Is it about dad? Is he hurt?" I asked her, tugging on her sleeve again. She chocked back a sob, then nodded her head. Her hand coming up to her face to wipe away a tear._

_"W-what's going on?" Roxas asked, walking into the room. _

_"Boys. Your father...he...he got into an accident." She said, looking at the floor. "He's at the hospital right now."_

_It felt like time slowed down a little. I'm dreaming. Yeah that's it because this can't be real, it just can't be. The pain in my chest told me other wise._

_"Sora, did you hear me!" I shook my head, bringing me back to my senses and looked at my mom. _

_"Go get dressed, we're going to go see your father. Now hurry." She said, pushing my in the direction of my room. I stumbled, still in shock about what she told me, but caught myself. I walked down the hall, and made it to my room. I quickly found my shoes and jacket, put them on, and made my way over to the front door. Roxas was already there; Dressed and waiting for my mom like I was. _

_She walked up to us, grabbing her keys off the small table near the her, and opened the door._

_"Come on you two." She muttered quietly, waiting for us to go out to the car. _

_The ride to the hospital was silent. Nothing could be heard besides the sound of other cars passing, and the moving of our car wheels. The silence was oddly comforting, yet uneasy at the same time. Then, Roxas spoke up._

_"Is he going to be okay?" He asked. A few seconds of silence passed before my mom answered him. _

_"I don't know Roxas." She whispered. "I really hope he is."_

_After what seemed like an eternity, we finally made it there. We all walked into the hospital. My mom told us to go sit and wait in the waiting room; We did and she instantly walked over to the front desk to ask the clerk about my dad. I looked around the place we were in. It was, plain to say the least. White walls, white floors, bright florescent lights, old blue worn out chairs in the waiting room, a few fake plants here and there. Nothing too special really. My mom walked over to us, and took a seat in between Roxas and I._

_"The desk clerk said that a doctor will com here soon to tell us what's going with your father." She said, looking back and forth at us. _

_Seconds past. Those seconds turned into minutes, and those minutes turned into hours. Each moment that passed was agonizing; Not being able to know what is going on, just killed me inside. Finally, the doctor came out from the door that read, 'Employee's Only'. He walked over the front desk clerk and talked to her. She pointed over to us, making him thank her and walk over to us._

_Here it was. The moment of either good news or bad news. "Mrs. Kimura?" He asked. My mom stood up and faced him._

_"That's me." She said looking at him._

_He put out his hand, which my mom shook with her own hand. "I'm Doctor Saito. I'm your husband's doc-" He was cut off by my mom speaking out.  
_

_"What happened to my husband? Is he going to be alright?" She asked, trying not to cry.  
_

_He looked at her sympathetically.__"I think you should come with me." He replied. She instantly got pale, obliviously thinking the worst._

_Doctor Saito walked off with my mom, leaving Roxas and I alone in the waiting room. I wanted - **needed** - to hear what he was saying about my dad. I sat up from the chair and started walking over to where my mom and Saito were. Then, I felt a tug on my jacket. I looked over my shoulder to see Roxas grabbing me, trying to make me sit down again._

_"What are you doing?" he asked._

_I hesitated for a second. "I want to know what he has to say about dad." With that, I ripped my jacket from his grasp, and started to walk over to them once more. I stood behind a tall green plant, so my mom wouldn't see me. It was so loud in the hospital that I could barely make out what they were saying. Closing my eyes, I tried harder to listen to what they were talking about._

_My mom's voice was the first thing I heard. "How did he get hurt?" She asked._

_Doctor Saito sighed. "Well, he got into a car accident." He said._

_My mother gasped, and covered her mouth with her hand. "But-But he's such a careful driver. I just don't know how it could happen."_

_Doctor Saito spoke again. _

_"He didn't cause the accident. The other driver did. Your husband was driving down the street, about to cross the intersection, when a drunk truck driver came and hit him." He said, looking my mother straight into the eye._

_She made a noise that sounded like she was trying not to cry. "Is he, okay?" She asked._

_Then came the line that ever doctor used._

_"__We did everything we could__; Your husband was injured pretty bad__..." He stopped, looking as if he was thinking of what to say next. "He's in a comma and we also put him on life support. __I'm sorry Mrs. Kimura. __" He said, putting a hand on her shoulder. She stood there. Didn't even move an inch. Hearing those words made her freeze in shock. _

_Everything around me turned into a blur of colors after hearing what he said. Every sound in the hospital started to fade out. I heard nothing; Why did this happen to him? He did nothing to deserve this. _

_I slowly slid down the plant I was next to. I felt the cold floor as I sat down, bringing my knees in closer to my chest. A few tears made it down my face, hitting my knees, and some splattering on the floor. I let out a chocked sob, and burried my face into my arms and knees._

_"Sora?"_

_My head snapped up to see my mom, starting at me with a concerned and confused look on her face. Then that look went away. She probably realized why I was crying. She slowly made her way towards me, and sat down next to me._

_She sighed. "You heard what he said, am I right?" She said,moving to put her arm around me, giving a gentle squeeze. I nodded against her, bringing my short arms around her._

_"Your father is going to be fine." She said. "Lots of people were in his situation, and they made it out okay. Just have faith Sora." I just sat there, holding on to her, not wanting to let go. _

_Just have faith..._

_***_

When I finished remembering I didn't even notice that I was crying. There were little tears all over my hand and the window pane. Sniffling slightly, I brought my hand up to wipe them off away. We all had faith that he would wake up from his coma, and come back to us; someday. My father was kept on life support for almost three years. Three years of waiting, and wondering if he would even make it. It killed us; Waiting all those years. But we never gave up hope.

But - even all the hope in the world couldn't help him. We got a call one day, from the hospital where my dad was staying at. They had some bad news. Apparently, my dad's heart was failing, and they couldn't do anything about it. They said that over time, his heart would completely stop working...So he's never wake up from his coma...and he'd be on life support forever...

My mom was devastated; The news completely broke her inside. She knew that she had to take him off life support, but just couldn't bear the thought of being the one to take him out of the world. If she didn't, he'd never wake up and just suffer in that hospital for who knows how long.

It took a lot of time and thought but she made a decision after a few weeks. She was going to take him off life support in a few days. That day seemed to come up too fast. My mom, Roxas, and I all made it to the hospital. I remember that day perfectly clear in my mind.

_***_

___We walked into the room where my father was staying in. I looked at my father. He didn't even resemble himself anymore. His one tan skin was ghostly pale white. His brown hair had streaks of gray in it and he's gotten much skinnier. It hurt me inside, seeing him so lifeless and fragile when he use to be so strong and full of life. I felt Roxas hit me when he shifted in his spot, obviously uncomfortable with what was going to happen. _

___Then I saw Roxas walk over to him. He bent down so he could whisper something in his ear. I didn't know what he was saying. After he was done whispering, he walked back over to me, having a sad smile on his face.  
_

___My attention was turned to my mom walked in a few second later with the doctor following behind her._

___"Now I know this was a tough decision for you and your family to make. So please,take as much time as you need to say goodbye." He said._

___My mother looked him in the eye. "Thank you Doctor Saito." She whispered. He gave her a sympathetic smile, and walked off, leaving us alone in the room._

___Nothing could be heard, except for the noise of the machine. My mom made her way over toward my dad. She pulled up a chair, and sat down right next to him. Taking his hand into hers, she smiled._

___"Hi honey." She started, tears gathering in her eyes. Breathing in deeply she started talking again. "I know you probably can't hear me, or maybe you can. I really don't know." She stopped, looking down at the floor. Her gaze went back up to my dad. "I just wanted to say that...that I love you." She said, her voice cracking at the end. "I love you so much, and...I know that your suffering." She let out a sob as her grip on his hand tightened. "So this is for the best. I-I'm sorry." She sifted off her seat to lean over my dad, and kissed his forehead. _

___She straightened herself up, and looked over at us. "Do you guys want to say anything?" She asked, wiping a tear off her face._

___"I already said my goodbyes before you came into the room." Roxas said, not making eye contact with anyone._

___She nodded, then turned to look over to me. "How about you Sora?"_

___I shoved my hands into the pockets on my hoodie. "I came here earlier today and said everything I needed to." I wasn't lying. I came here at seven o'clock sharp. I just, needed to say my goodbyes alone._

___She walked over to us, then gave us each a hug. "So, you guys ready?"_

___I saw Roxas out of the corner of my eye, nod his head. I did the same a few second after him. _

___My mom bit her lip, letting go of us, and made her way out of the room in search of the Doctor. I closed my eyes, taking a breath in. So this is it. No going back now. I though to myself._

___My mom walked in the room with the Doctor again. He made his way over to the machine next to my Dad. My heart felt a slight sensation on pain, as I thought of what was going to happen. He looked over at us, then at my mom._

___"You ready?" He asked, putting his hand on the first button. I saw my mother nod her head and faintly whisper a quiet yes. _

___The Doctor looked at us one more time before turning his attention back to the machine. He shut off the machine, one button at a time. The sound of the machine working was fading away, until noting could be heard from it anymore. My mom started to cry, putting her face into her hands, and sitting down in the chair next to my dad._

___Roxas took a step forward, then stopped, looking as if he was in deep thought. Then he proceeded to make his way over to my mom, and give her a hug. She accepted his affection and cried into his chest. I walked over to my mom as well, taking a seat next to her. I saw Roxas have tears in his eyes..._

___I leaned over to give my mom a hug. She just cried; We all did...not caring how long we were there._

___***_

Things changed after that. My mom went into a state of depression. Her once bright smile and wonderful personality was only seen once in a long time. Everyone noticed her change, and they tried everything to make her happier. Nothing worked though. It was just her way of dealing with the pain of being taken away from her husband.

Roxas took it pretty hard as well. He became more distant, and cold towards others. He barely talked to anyone beside my mom and I. I on the other hand didn't change at all. I know that probably sounds like I didn't care. But I did, I just have my own way of dealing with it. Making myself distant or being depressed was not a good way for me to handle it. So I just stayed the same happy, nice Sora.

About a year passed, and I could see that my mom was starting to get out of her depression. I think if it wasn't for the support of her friends and her sons then she wouldn't of changed. Roxas was not as cold and distant. Even thought he was still shy and quiet.

The big house that was once quiet and lifeless, soon became loud and full of life again. Our personalities were starting to show, and we were living life to the fullest. But even with the change in my mom, I could still see that she was lonely. I can't blame her really. She was with my dad years before Roxas and I were born. And to have that one thing you had most of your life taken away, well, it's gonna leave an empty hole to fill.

Roxas and I thought she should go out and start looking for someone else. I know what your thinking; You two? Yes, we did think that. But just hear me out; Wouldn't you try and help your mom if you saw her moping around, being lonely all the time? Yeah, thought so.

She was first hesitant about the idea of her actually going out again. Once again, I don't blame her. But, she has been alone for nearly five years. Three years for waiting for my dad to wake up from his coma, and then the other year and a half after he...died.

Then finally, a few months later, she was willing to go along with our suggestion. The moment she did, we saw a huge difference. Even though she already was happier, you could tell she wasn't lonely anymore. She was going out with this one guy, Kyo Leonhart., for a few years. Four of five...I don't really remember. He was a great guy; Always knew how to cheer someone up. He was so funny to! He could make anything laugh- and I mean anything.

And then; They got married. I was, shocked, to say the least. Don't get me wrong, I was happy for her and all, but it was just...unexpected, y'know? Since they got married, Roxas and I ended up having an older step-brother. His name was Squall. I've only gotten to see him a few times, since he doesn't live in Hollow Bastion anymore. He lives in some place called, Twilight Ville? Or was it Twilight Town...Oh well. He's a...cool guy. Kinda, intimidating though..

So after the whole marriage thing, Kyo moved into our house. The house was big enough for him and probably five other people to move in. I still couldn't get use to the fact that people were calling my mom 'Mrs. Leonhart'. It just sounded so weird! Thank god Roxas and I didn't have our last names changed. My mom was too lazy to fill out all that paper work for us to get his last name. Personally, I liked that. I've had my last name for nineteen years, and changing it now would just...mess me up.

After my dad died, Roxas and I inherited his company, the one that builds houses. We couldn't really do much with it till we turned eighteen. Pssh, some people just don't trust kids running a company... So my mom had to take care of that until we were of age to fully be in control.

The job is; fun. Not gonna lie. Roxas and I aren't the people that just sit there and tell other people to go and..do whatever. We actually are there,helping build the buildings, which makes things go by a lot smoother. After working in the company for two years, Roxas and I got a job offer to build over fifty buildings. Apparently the town was reconstructing on old part of town, and adding on more land. In order for us to actually, do the job, we had to move. To Twilight Town.

It wasn't that far away, just a three hour drive. My mom hated the fact that we were leaving, but hey, all adults do. Even though they bitch and complain about not waiting till you move out, inside, they really don't want it to happen. She even said that we should just drive there and back everyday.

No thanks. Six hours of my life spent everyday driving didn't sound all that great. Roxas and I found a great house in Twilight Town. Big enough for the both of us, and it was right in the middle of..everything - store wise - so we could easily walk anywhere if we wanted to. It's also a few streets down from where Leon lived.

We spent the last two days driving back and forth to get most of our stuff already in the house. The first day we got there, my car broke. I was so upset. I've had that car for years! Sure people say it's absolute crap, and probably should just be hurled into the nearest junk yard, it's my car. And I love it.

I had to put it in the Twilight Auto shop. Man I feel bad for the poor soul that has to actually fix it. After that, we just used a moving truck. Anyways, back to what I was saying. Today is the last day of packing everything we needed. Roxas and I sure do have a lot of stuff...

My thoughts were interrupted as I heard someone walk into my room. "Hey Sora?" I turned to see Roxas standing outside the door, holding a box. "Are you done packing yet?" He asked, shifting so he didn't drop the box.

I grinned, showing off my smile. "Yeah, I just have these boxes to put in the truck." I said, pointing over to the two small dull brown boxes on the middle of the floor.

"Well hurry up. I want to make it there so we can actually unpack in day light." With that he turned on his heel, walking away from my sight. I stood up from my seat on the window pane, walked over to the boxes and picked them up. Making my way out the door, I stopped.

Turning around, I took one last look at 'my' room. I smiled a little. '_Sure am gonna miss this place._' I thought to myself. I turned and my way down the stairs, making them creek with ever other step I take. I made my way outside to the moving truck. My eyes wondered over everyone that was there. Kyo and my mom were there, making sure the truck was alright to drive. Pssh. Parents. Aerith was with Roxas, of course, talking to him while he placed more boxes in the truck. Wakka and Tifa were together, lifting more boxes in the truck along side with Roxas. And Cid...

I looked around. '_Where is he?'_ I thought. Then I looked down in front of me. He was just sitting on the front step, being lazy while everyone else was helping. Good old Cid.

I laughed a little which got his attention. He turned his head and looked at me.

"Well, took you long enough. What the hell were you doing in your room for so long?" He asked, getting up, brushing imaginary dirt off his pants.

I lifted the boxes, showing him ."I was packing."

He narrowed his eyes, then lifted a finger at me. "Don't get smart with me boy." He said, walking towards me.

My initial reaction was to back away. And I did, taking a few steps back, hitting the wall with my back. "I-I wasn't being smart, I just...I...uhh.." The words died in my mouth. Then something I didn't expect. He started laughing?

Was there something I missed? He put a hand on my shoulder, then looked at me. "I just wanted to mess with you one last time before you left." He said.

I let out a breath of relief. "Man, I thought you were really mad at me!" I said.

He rolled his eyes. "Your just too easy to mess with, did you know that?"

I grinned "Well what do you expect, it's me." I said, making him smirk.

"True. Now come on, put those boxes in the truck already." I nodded as my reply, and walked over to where there moving truck was. I guess I was the only one left to put the boxes in. Standing next to the truck, I threw the boxes in, not caring where they landed. With that, I shut the truck and turned to face everyone.

"Well that was the last of it." I said cheerfully. Seriously, moving was such a pain in the ass. All those boxes to lift and carry. Ugh.

My mom walked over to me. "Oh Sora, I'm gonna miss you!" She said, hugging me with all her strength. Was it just me, or is it getting harder to breathe? "Promise you and Roxas will call everyday!" She yelled into my shoulder.

"Mom! I-- can't....breathe!" I said, trying to pry her off me.

But she stayed. Like damn superglue. "And you two better not get into any trouble with the law! If you do, so god help me, I will-"

Roxas interrupted her. "Mom! He can't breathe!" Thank god for Roxas.

Her grip loosened as she looked at me. "Oh Sora I'm sorry, why didn't you tell me you couldn't breathe?" She had completely let go of my by then.

I breathed in deeply, then answered. "Well you know mom...most people can't talk when they can't,breathe..." I said, looking up at her, laughing a little.

She smiled. "Well I'm just gonna miss you that's all. Oh, Roxas, you need a hug now!" She said, looking over at Roxas. His eyes went wide, and he lifted up his hands in a defending manner.

"N-no need mom. I can already tell that- ack!" Too late. He couldn't finish his sentence due to the fact she launched herself onto him. She mumbled a few things into his neck, that I didn't quit catch, and finally let him go.

Mom hugs; They are the worst.

Roxas walked over to me, rubbing his arm a little. I looked around at everyone. I'm sure going to miss and I already said our goodbyes and what not to everyone one else earlier.

"Well," I spoke up, breaking the silence. "I guess this is goodbye." I said, making my way over to the passenger seat of the car; Roxas walking towards the drivers seat. He was a much more, cautious, driver then I was. I made my way into the car, closing it with a loud thud. Roxas started the truck, bringing the engine to life. I rolled down the window and peered outside.

"Bye you guys!" I said, waving my hand enthusiastically. They all waved back yelling things like, 'Call soon' and 'We'll miss you'. I kept on waving till they were out of sight, then rolled the window back up and shifting in my seat to get comfortable. Three hours of driving was a head. Three hours. What to do, oh what to do.

I yawned, feeling a bit tired, and stretched my arms out above my head. Then it hit me.

Sleep!

I glanced over at Roxas. "Yo Roxy." I said.

He glared at the road. "Don't call me that." He said, making me chuckle.

"I'm going to take a nap, since I was up most of the night. You don't mind do you?" I asked, moving to get more comfortable.

He shrugged. "I don't care really." He said, not taking his eyes off the road.

Thank god. I was exhausted. Most of the night I spent packing, so I probably got an hour of sleep. That's what I get for waiting till the last minute to pack everything. I closed my eyes, seeing nothing but black take over my vision. Slowly, the sounds became less noticeable, as sleep took over me.

***

_"Sora?"_

I groaned, moving away from whatever was trying to wake me up.

_"Sora." _

I furrowed my eyebrows. I heard it again, more sternly though, but still I chose to ignore it.

"Sora!"

Someone was shaking me. Damn it all to hell. Can't I get any peace? I opened my eyes to see a blur of..someone. I blinked a few times, lifting my hand to my eye, rubbing it. I opened my eyes again to see Roxas staring at me.

"Finally, I thought you'd never wake up." He said, tilting his head to the side. I took a deep breath in and stretched in my spot. I looked around to see that I was still in the car, and we were already in Twilight Town. Did I really sleep for the entire ride? The pain in my neck I had from sleeping awkwardly on the seat told me yes. I moved my hand to rub my sore neck.

"What time is it?" I asked, my voice still groggy from waking up.

Roxas looked at the watch on his wrist. "It's 7:30 " He said, looking over to me. "Come on, get up and help me take the boxes inside."

I lifted up my hand making a 'shooing' motion with it. You know, the one that people do to get rid of pesky bugs that were near them. "Just give me a minute." I mumbled. He rolled his eyes, making his way out of the truck,slamming the door shut.

I wasn't lying. I really did need just a minute. I am a morning person after all. I stretched again, and then shifted to sit up. I shook my head, making my brown spiky hair hit my face.

_'Alright, I am wide awake now.' _I thought to myself, as I opened the door to get out of the truck. The first thing I saw was the house. It was nice, not as nice as my old one though. The outside of the house was painted a golden tan color, and the windows were painted a deep crimson read, making them really stand out. There were also three large steps connected to the two story house.

I looked around the street. The houses all pretty much looked the same; Except for a few color differences here and there.

"Sora!"

His voice brought me out of my daze. I turned to look at him with three, very big, boxes in his hands. He looked like he was going to drop them any second.

"A little help please?" He asked, shaking. I quickly made my way over to him and lifted the other side of the bottom box. "Thanks." He said, looking past the box to see me.

I smiled. "No problem, now guide me to the house since I don't have eyes in the back of my head and can't see behind me." I said.

He laughed. "Just keep walking straight- watch out for the steps!" He yelled.

I stopped, turned my head awkwardly to look down. Carefully I made it past the steps and then into the living room of the inside of the house was once again, not as nice as my old one. White colored walls, hard wood flooring, white colored ceilings. Man this place needed some color - bad.

"So Roxas," I started, setting down the boxes. "What do you think our neighbors would be like?"

He shrugged. "Don't know. We'll just have to find out for ourselves." He said, making his way out the door to the truck.

I followed him outside, the cold air hitting my face as I did. "Yeah, I guess- hey look!" I said, pointing to someone walking by. "There's someone now! Let's go introduce ourselves!" I said, walking down the stairs.

I was stopped sharply by Roxas grabbing onto my blue jacket. I turned to see him eying at me. "Sora, your probably gonna freak him out. Besides he looks like he's in a hur-"

I cut him off. "Hey there!" I shouted, waving my hand and smiling. That sure caught the silver haired guy's attention. He stopped, then looked around as if he was trying to see if anyone else was there. "Are you one of our new neighbors?" I asked.

I saw him give me a 'Are you serious' look. I let my hand drop at my side.

Roxas walked in front of me and glared at me. "Stop it, your probably scaring him." He scolded, then he turned to the silver haired guy. "I'm sorry about my brother. He's just very; Friendly." He said, smiling sheepishly.

The guy gave us one more weird look, before picking up his pace and walking away from us. Roxas turned over to me again.

"You see! You probably scared him!" He huffed, looking at me.

I let my head drop slightly. "I was just being friendly..." I mumbled, looking at the ground.

"Well convert your friendliness into helpfulness and help me unload the truck." He said, walking away from me.

I sighed. _'Ugh...will work ever end'_ I thought to myself, not moving.

"Y'know," Roxas started, taking a box out of the truck. "The faster we get done with unloading the truck, the sooner you can get your car out of the shop." He said, walking past me into the house.

My head snapped up. "That's right!" I shouted to..myself, running over to the truck._ 'Come on Sora, work faster so you can get your car back.'_ I thought ,more like commanded my self. I looked up in to the truck_. 'Dear god...this was going to take forever.'_

I sighed, pulling out one box grumbling to myself. _'Why did we have so much stuff in the first place..' _I thought, as I walked into the house.

***

I dropped the last box onto the floor, not caring where it landed. "Finally!" I shouted, dramatically collapsing onto the floor, breathing heavily. One hour. I spent one LONG hour of hauling boxes from the truck to the house. It's official. I hated boxes. I don't care what anyone says; They're evil. I closed my eyes for a few moments, trying to catch my breath.

I opened them to see Roxas' bright blue eyes staring down into mine. He smiled. "Aren't you glad you finished now instead of later?" He asked.

I nodded, breathing out heavily. "Now I just need to get my car, and my life will be complete." I said.

He looked at me funny. "Your life?" He laughed out. "Yeah okay Sora, your life sure is gonna be complete." He said, sarcasm dripping from every word.

I laughed to. "Oh hush, now help me up." I said, thrusting my arm into the air. He grabbed it and lifted me up with ease.

I straightened myself up, brushing off dust from my pants. "So are you gonna go with me to get the car?" I asked, still brushing off the dust.

"Pssh, no thanks. I'm filthy, I need to take a shower now." He said, starting to walk away.

"Hey! Wait a second1" I yelled, getting his attention."You have to go with me!"

One blond eyebrow rose. "Why is that?" He asked, turning to face me.

"Because!" I said, throwing my arms in the air. "I don't know where to go. What if I get lost,or worse - kidnapped. Oh god.." My hands made it to grip my face.

Roxas rolled his eyes. "Sora, your twenty one years old. You can handle going off by your self. Plus **I** don't even know where is it. Go..call..Leon and ask him where it is, I'm sure he knows."

I crossed my arms over my chest and tapped my foot,thinking over what he said. My shoulders dropped, knowing he won't break down and go with me. "Fine." I said, looking around for the phone. Wait; We just moved in, and didn't set up the phone. Ugh. _'Phone...where can I get a phone- Roxas has one!' _I thought. I looked at Roxas walking away.

"Roxas!" I yelled, making him stop, then sharply turn around.

He was glaring at me. "What. Is. It. Now." He said, obviously irritated with me.

A grin made it's way on my face, as I raised my hand to scratch the back of my head. "I-need to use your cell phone."

Few seconds of silenced passed.

"What about your phone." He asked me.

I laughed out loud. "Well you see, funny story about that actually." I started, looking at him. He was clearly not patient to hear the full story. "I packed it in one of the boxes."

I saw him twitch, then bring a hand to face. He sighed,reaching into his pocket for the phone, mumbling something along the lies of 'Stupid' and 'Fool'. He tossed the silver phone over to me, and I caught it no problem.

"No can I **please** take my shower?" He asked. I nodded my head, and he then left the room. I looked at the phone in my hands, flipping it open and going into the contacts looking for 'Leon'.

"Eureka." I whispered, pressing the send button and putting the phone to my ear. I shifted in my spot, waiting for him to pick up.

_Ringgg_

I started to sing a song that's been stuck in my head for the past few days._  
_

_Ringgg_

"I reach towards to sky, I've said my goodbyes, My heart's always with you now." I sang softly to my self.

_Ringgg_

I sighed, stopping my singing. Maybe he isn't there...Gah, now how am I going to get my car? A small frown made it onto my face.

_Ring-_

Leon's voice stopped it in mid-ring. _"Hello?"_

Yes he picked up! "Hey Leon, It's Sora." I said into the phone.

A short silence was heard before he spoke up.

_"Oh, hey Sora. What's going on?"_ He asked me.

"Well I was actually calling to ask you something." I said, playing with the zipper on my jacket.

_"And that is..."_ He said, his voice curious.

"Well I need to pick my car up from the Twilight Town Auto Shop, and I don't know where it is and I was hoping that you could give me some directions." I stopped playing with the zipper, and turned my attention to my hand.

_"Yeah,I know where that is. You just go down your street, make a left, then go down three streets, turn right, and it's the second building on the left."_

"Alright, thanks Leon." I said, making my way out of the house.

_"No problem. Talk to you later."_ He said.

I nodded, then realized he couldn't see me nod. "Yeah, bye Leon!" I chirped into the phone. I quick 'Goodbye' was heard followed by a click. I flipped the phone shut and shoved it into my pants pocket. Opening the door, to cold air hit me,making me shiver. I scrunched my face in annoyance. I was never a big fan of the cold weather. Hot and sunny was more my thing. I made my way down the stairs turned left, and went down the street.

_'I finally get my car back'_ I thought to my self, smiling as I was walking.

***

Curse my slight ADD problem. _'Think Sora.'_ Closing my eyes,trying to play back what Leon said. It was take a left, go down two streets and then turn right- No- it was three streets. I let out a hiss of frustration,grabbing my hair. _'THINK'_ I mentally shouted at myself. My grip on my hair loosened,as I finally remembered. It was three streets! Thank god, because that's what I did in the first place. I made it down to the third street and turned right; Looking to the left for the Auto shop.

I let out a sigh of relief as I saw the Auto Shop. Man I thought I was never going to find it. I made my way over to the building, passing a few people working on other cars. I came up to the door of the shop, pushing it open, making the door hit the bell above it. Stepping out of the way, I closed the door behind me, making it hit the bell again.

"Hello?" I asked, hoping someone would answer.

I looked around the shop, looking for someone to help me. But there wasn't anyone there. I walked up to the front desk leaning over it to see if anyone was behind it. I huffed to my self. No one. Weren't there suppose to be people here? Or was it closed. No, there were people outside working. My attention was averted to the shiny bell next to my hand.

I lifted my hand and hit the tiny bell, letting a loud 'ding' be heard through out the shop. A few seconds of waiting, I raised my hand to hit the bell again.

"Don't bother, I heard you the first time."

I looked up to see a guy with bright blond hair and blue eyes staring at me. I took my hand away from the bell.

"So, how can I help you?" He asked, not looking all too interested.

"I'm here to pick up my car, I dropped it off a few days ago." I said, looking around the shop.

"I see. And your name is?" He asked, sitting down in front of a file cabinet, ready to look for my car information and such.

"Kimura Sora." I said, my eyes still wandering around the place.

"Kimura...kimura....let's see. Ah! Found it." He said, taking a plain white folder out of the cabinet. He opened it, letting his eyes scan if for a moment. He let out a noise - something like a hiss. "Oh, I hate to say this buddy, but that car you dropped off here..." He drifted off.

I snapped my head to look at him "What? What's wrong with my car?!" I asked, getting more panicked by the second.

He looked up at me, with a 'sucks for you but...' expression. "Well...we had an accident in the shop, and the car. Eh..how should I say this...it broke...in half."

I widened my eyes,feeling my heart skip a beat or maybe even two. Oh...god.. My car! "H-how...but...why...ugh..." I closed my eyes,grabbing my hair. I knew I shouldn't of left it in the hands of strangers! Then I heard him laugh. I looked up at him. He was laughing. Sitting there,holding his sides from laughing so much.

I balled my fists at my side. "Why are you laughing! This isn't funny! What if you car was broken in half?" I asked him. I only got more laughs from him. "stop laughing!" I said, pointing my finger at him.

He wiped a tear from his face, then stood up and put a hand on my shoulder. "I was only kidding. No need to have a heart attack." He said, moving his hand away from my should back to his side. He laughed a little again "Man, you should of seen your face."

I felt like a huge weight was just lifted off my shoulders. I sighed in relief, then laughed a little. I had to admit, it was pretty funny.

"Sorry man, I just needed something like that to brighten my day. I'm Cloud by the way." He said, his laughter dying down, holding out his hand for me to shake it.

I took hand in mine, shaking it slowly. "Sora." I said,looking at him

"Come on. I'll show you your car." He said, walking around the desk into the part of the shop where everyone worked on the cars. I followed behind him, letting my eyes wader around the place. A bunch of tires, cars, tools, and oil was seen everywhere.

"Hey Riku!" Cloud shouted. "You finally get to see who's caused you so much time and pain with that car!"

Cloud moved out of the way and I saw him. I saw that he was covered in oil, and he was wearing the shop's uniform which also was dirty. He had bright emerald eyes. I don't think I've seen anyone with those color eyes. And his hair. It as a light color of silver. His hair was pulled back into a loose pony tail,letting a few strands out near his face. Wait a second He was that guy I waved to this morning. Oh crap...he probably thinks I'm some sort of creepy stalker. I shook that thought away from me.

I smiled at him, sticking out my hand. "I'm Sora" I said grinning. "I'm guessing your the poor guy that was stuck working on my piece of junk, right?"

He hesitated for a second, looking at my hand, before slowly grabbing it, and shaking it. ""Yeah, I was." He said, then letting go of my hand.

I shifted in my spot. "I didn't quite catch your name." I said,looking into his oddly colored eyes.

A second of silence passed.

"Riku."

I smiled again. "Riku, nice to meet you."

"Yeah," He mumbled "nice to meet you to."

* * *

**A/N:** Well that took longer than I expected, but I finally got it done :D Alrighty, so now that all the background information is done, and they met I can actually move onto something more exciting. I hope there wasn't a lot of spelling errors in this chapter. I did read over it, but not sure if I caught everything...so..yeahh

Oh, the song that Sora was singing was 'Gunslinger - Avenged Sevenfold' very awesome song if I must say so.


	3. Chapter 3

**Can You Help Me?  
**

**Description: **Sora has always been a kind person; Giving help to anyone that needed it. Riku has had a troubled life, and in turn, shuts anyone out that tries to help him. Can Sora be the one to help Riku not be so cold and distant? [RikuxSora] [AkuRoku]on the side.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Never have, never will...*sigh* Anyways! This, my lovely readers, is **MY** story. The plot and what not was **MY** idea. Take anything from it, and you will regret it.

**Rating/Warning:** Mature - Language

**A/N: **Whoa, look-y here! It's chapter three :] Sorry it took me loner than normal. I've just been busy with giving piano lessons and sports. WELL, I must say, this story is going along very smoothly. Alright, a few more people will be introduced in this chapter and what not. It's gonna start in Riku's POV in the beginning, and will change to other POV's. You'll know who...So scroll,read, and enjoy!

Also, thanks for everyone that the reviewed and put this story on their favorites/alerts :D

* * *

**.::Chapter Three::.**

***

_He stuck out his hand "I'm Sora" He said grinning. "I'm guessing your the poor guy that was stuck working on my piece of junk, right?"_

_I looked at his hand for a second, before hesitantly reaching mine out to grab his and shake it. "Yeah, I was." I let go of his hand, warmth suddenly leaving mine._

_"I didn't quite catch your name." He said, looking into my eyes._

_I paused a second. "Riku."_

_"Riku, nice to meet you." A smile was on his face again. Was this kid always this happy?_

_"Yeah," I mumbled "nice to meet you to."_

_***_

Sora stood up on his toes and peered over my shoulder, trying to see the car. It was then I noticed how short he really was. I was almost an entire head taller than him. "So how's the car coming along?" He asked, not talking his eyes off it.

I bent down to get a rag that was near my foot, and stood back up. "I actually just finished it." I said, wiping my hand clean with the dirty old gray rag. I really should wash this rag...It wasn't, sanitary anymore.

He blinked his blue eyes a few times. "Awesome." That smile was on his face again...seemed like it was always there. "I hope it wasn't too much of a pain to fix it." He added as an afterthought.

I lightly shook my head, strands of silver hair tickling my face. "Not really." I muttered, focusing on cleaning my hands of all the oil that was on it. I knew I was lying. I think I've grown to hate that car more than anything in the world.

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Oh stop being so nice Riku. You were just bitching about how much of a pain it was before he walked in. " Cloud said looking at me smugly, motioning his hand to Sora. I glared at him, and threw the rag at him. He caught it with no problem though. Damn him and his fast hand eye coordination skills. "Jeez Rik-ku" He said, breaking my name into syllables. How I hated when people did that. "No need to get so violent" He continued, showing the rag in his hands.

I huffed a bit. "Well maybe I wouldn't need to be so violent if you weren't so obnoxious." I said, looking away from him, scowl clearly shown on my face.

Cloud and I heard Sora laugh lightly, then I just realized how childish we were acting. "Well Sorry for it being such a pain. It's just...a little old." Sora said, still laughing.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Hey, it's my job. So I just learn to deal with it." I said, moving towards the car, bending down to put all the tools back in the black case. I saw Sora take a few steps closer.

"Well thanks anyways." Sora said, looking at me.

A short and quiet 'Hm' was all I said in response. A few seconds of that awkward silence passed, till another 'ding' from the bell was heard from the front desk.

Cloud sighed, out of annoyance, running his fingers through his hair. "My god..." He started "how am I suppose to slack off at work when people are coming in willy-nilly for assistance." He grumbled out loud, walking away from Sora and I to the front room.

Sora laughed again, louder this time. "Is he always like that?" He asked, looking at Cloud walk away.

I let out a small laugh, smirking the slightest. "Yeah he is. He can be annoying at times." I put the last tool in the box, and closed it. "But you learn love him."

Sora looked back at me, putting his hands in his pocket. "True. He seems like a very.." He thought over his words. "interesting person." He said.

There it was again. That annoying awkward silence that everyone tries to avoid,yet somehow manages to creep up in conversations.

"Hey um.." Sora started breaking that horrible silence. "I think...I think I've seen you this morning." He was shifting from foot to foot in his spot, looking intently at the floor like it was something amazing.

I rose an eyebrow questioningly. "You did?" I asked, even though I perfectly knew what he was talking about. I took another tool off the floor and placed it in the box.

"Yeah" His gaze met my eyes. "I yelled something along the lines of; 'Hey are you my new neighbor?'"

"Ah, so that was you. I thought you looked familiar." I said, looking up at him.

"Oh, well good. I mean..not good, er you know what I mean? Well..no, you probably don't. Anyways, I just wanted to say that I'm not some creepy stalker who tried to talk to you and now found you again at your work. Just a friendly person that wanted to make some new-

"Sora." I said, cutting him off. He stopped sharply, with his bright blue eyes wide. "Your rambling."

A small blush made it onto his tan face. He grinned,closing his eyes, then bringing his hand to the back of his head. "I didn't even notice. Sorry." He said, the blush still on his face.

"No need to apologize." I said, standing up. "Well I really need to get back to work, or else my boss will kill me." I picked up my tool box. "You need to talk to that guy over in that room over there to get your car back." I said, pointing to a small room a few feet behind Sora. He turned around to look at the room then back at me.

"Thank." He said, smiling again. I was right; This kid really was always happy.

"No problem." I said, turning around, walking away from him.

"So I'll see you around?" He shouted, waving goodbye.

I raised my hand, waving back lightly. "Yeah, see ya." I head the sound of his footsteps walking out of the shop to the office.

I made my way towards the shelf to put the tool box back. My eyes scanned for an open space; And I finally found one. Way up on the top shelf a few feet above my head. I sighed. how I loved my luck. I placed the tool box carefully onto the floor, and grabbed a chair next the shelf. I placed the chair right up to the big gray metal shelf. I stepped on it, making sure I don't fall like I did this morning. Falling of this chair onto the concrete floor wasn't something I wanted to do.

I stood on my toes, pushing the box into the one open space left. I couldn't push it in all the way, so I tried tapping it lightly. That didn't do a thing. I sighed out of frustration, then looked back up to the box. I took a second or two to get ready, then jumped, hitting the box way back into the shelf.

Yes! Finally I got it in. I was very proud of my self that I actually didn't fall off the chair like I usually do. Well I don't usually fall off _chairs_, but just..in general. I took a step back, and felt nothing but air. Damn. At least I didn't fall when I was jumping. I tried to balance my self by waving my arms around, but that didn't help. I saw my self falling back, not being able to do anything about it. I closed my eyes, bracing my self for the impact.

It never came. But I did feel something on my back. Hands?

I opened my eyes and turned around to see Cloud, his hands against my back preventing me from falling. Man I was happy that he came in time.

"You okay?" He asked, blue eyes making contact with mine.

I nodded my head, letting more hair fall into my face. "Yeah.." I mumbled, straightening myself up, and **slowly** getting off the chair.

"Oh Riku, what would you do with out me?" He asked, smirking like there was no tomorrow.

I furrowed my eyebrows, and glared over at him. "Oh stop it. You of all people should know stuff like that happens to me all the time." I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

He laughed. "Well yeah. Everyone knows about your problem with...gravity and balancing" He said, laughing more.

I rolled my eyes. He was right though. Everyday it's something new that happens to me. Even though I'm so careful!

"Thanks.." I muttered. He somehow heard me though all his laughter.

"Oh your welcome." He said, smiling. "That just added to my day. First it was that Sora kid, now you almost falling? Priceless." He said.

I rose and eyebrow. "What happened with Sora?" I asked, a little curious.

"Oh,well.." He started, scratching his head with his hand."I told him that his car broke in half. Man he freaked; You should of seen his face Riku. He looked like he was going to die, I kid you not." He said, trying not to laugh; He failed at that, and started laughing again.

"Cloud, you can be such an ass sometimes." I said.

"Oh lighten up Riku. I just need some excitement in this boring lifeless place." He said. "Only four more hours of working here and we're free for the weekend." He continued.

Finally. This week has gone by so slow. It felt just like that _last_ week of school that every kid dreads but loves at the same time. Dreading it because it'll be the slowest week of their lives, but loving it because it's their last.

"Speaking of getting off in a few hours. You wanna do something?" He asked, bringing a hand to his face, examining it.

I was hesitant at first, but then realized something; I had nothing planned for today. As a matter of fact,I had nothing planned for this weekend. Wow. Sad isn't it?

"Riku?"

His voice broke me back from my daze. "Huh?" I asked, sounding oh so smart with that question.

"I said, do you wanna do something today?" He asked again, looking at me this time. "You can bring Axel. I haven't seen him in ages!"

I felt the corner of my lip twitch. Oh god. Those two in the same room. Bad bad idea. When those two get together, its like something just clicks between them and they get even more loud and obnoxious. I was so tempted to say no, but then I really won't have anything to do. Curse my lack of a life...

"Yeah, sure. I'll ask Axel if he's free after I get off." I said, thinking if he would still be there by the time I'd get off.

"Sweet." He said smiling. A 'ding' was heard from the front desk once again. "Well, duty calls. So I'll see you after work." He said, turning and walking away. Another 'ding' was heard. "I'm coming! Jeez..." He shouted to..well, whoever was at the front desk.

Only four more hours and I'll be free...

Ugh..

*^*  
_Sora's P.O.V._

I drove up into my driveway, careful not to hit Roxas' car. He'd kill me if anything happened to his 'baby' as he calls it. My hand went to put my car in park, and then turn the key towards me, shutting off the car. A click was heard when I unfastened my seat belt and stepped out of the car, closing the door with a loud 'thud.' The sound of my shoes could be heard hitting the ground as I walked over the front door. I reached my hand into my pocket, fumbling for the keys. Taking them out, I opened the door and stepped inside.

'_Ah, warmth..' _I thought to myself, as I let myself soak in the nice warm air. For only being the beginning of November, it's pretty damn cold outside. I kicked off my shoes, and took off my jacket placing it on the coat rack. Instead of staying on said coat rack, it fell onto the floor. I blinked, then remembered that I never put it up yet. Oh well; I walked away leaving my jacket on the floor.

"Roxas! I'm home!" I shouted through out the house, trying to see where he was.

A few seconds of silence passed before I heard him respond. "I'm in the living room!" He shouted, his voice echoing through out the house.

I walked over to the living room., then stopped. There he was, sitting in the middle of the floor, back facing me, surrounded my so..many...boxes. I looked around, trying to find a way to get to him with out, tripping and falling to my doom. I stepped over a box, then another, walked a few steps, and plopped my self on the couch to the left of Roxas.

He was fumbling through one box in front of him, taking things out, and occasionally throwing things behind him, muttering stuff like; '_Useless_' or '_Why did we even pack this_.'

"So Roxas...whatchya doing?" I asked him,trying to strike up a conversation.

He looked up at me from his spot on the floor, then rolled his eyes. "I'm baking bread..." He said sarcasm dripping from every word. "What does it look I'm doing?"

I snorted a laugh. "Jeez Roxas, no need to get snippy." I raised my hands in a defensive manner. "Oh, by the way.." I reached into my pocket, fishing out his phone. "Here, thanks for letting me use it." I said, tossing the phone over to him. Unfortunately, with his lack of reflexes it ended up hitting him in the head,and falling in his lap.

A loud 'Gah!' was heard followed by; "What the fuck Sora!" He yelled, grabbing his head with a pained expression on his face.

I bit back a snicker, when I looked at him. "It's not my fault you have the reflexes of a dead cat." I muttered quietly. I got a glare in response to my little comment, making me laugh. "I'm sorry Roxy, I'll get some ice for you." I said, getting up and walking over to the kitchen.

"I said not to call me that!" I heard him shout from the living room floor.

"Whatever you say Roxy." I said, laughing when I heard him groan out of annoyance. I made my way over into the kitchen, and walked to the freezer, grabbing the handle and opening it. "Ice...ice...where are you- Hmm..." I said to myself, eyes scanning the freezer. "Here you are." I picked up a blue tray, filled with ice cubes, and closed the freezer. "Hey Roxas!" I shouted, getting his attention.

"What?" He replied.

"Do we have any bags? Like, plastic ones and such?" I asked, walking over to the counter, getting the ice out of the tray.

I saw him poke his head out from behind the couch. "Why?" He asked, still holding onto his head.

"Well your not going to hold the ice to your head without a bag, now are you?" I said, turning my head to look at him.

"Oh.." He said, pausing before continuing. "I think there might be some plastic bags underneath the sink." He said, sitting back down onto the floor, out of my sight.

I bent down and opened the cabinet underneath the sink. Sure enough there were a few bags there. I reach out and grabbed one, then straightened up, closing the cabinet with my knee. I put a few ice cubes into the bag, then tied it and walked back over to the living room.

"Here you go." I said, swinging the back towards him.

His eyes went wide, and one arm was swinging in front of his head. "Don't throw it!" He said, more like yelled.

I laughed, then sat down onto the couch again,leaning over handing the ice-filled bag to him. "Chill Roxas." I said, smiling.

He snatched the bag away from my hands, and then put it up to his head, letting out a sigh. "If I have a phone shaped bruise, dent, or whatever on my forehead. I'm gonna hurt you."

I laughed again, leaning back against the couch, sinking into it. "I know you'll never hurt me. I'm your brother!" I said, smiling.

He mumbled something under his breath that I didn't hear, but I decided to let it go. My eyes wondered around the room. It was nice, to say the least. A few windows here and there, spacious, and a light tan color? Huh..I never noticed this room was actually painted, unlike the rest of the house. Odd.

"So did you get your car back in one piece?" Roxas asked, breaking me out of my daze.

I looked down at him on the floor. "What?" I asked, bilking my blue eyes.

He looked up at me, the bag covering most of his face. "Your car.." He stated.

Pausing for a second, I answered. "Oh, yeah. I got it back no problem. Works just like new." I said, smiling on how much better shape my car was in. Well, not appearance wise, but you know what I mean. I'm really surprised actually. I thought I'd have to get rid of it; Thanks to- Riku? Yeah that's his name- thanks to him, I might get a few more good years out of it.

He moved to face me. "Hmm, must of taken the guy who worked on it days to fix it." He said, taking the bag off his face, and bringing his hand up to it to see if there was a bump.

I laughed sheepishly. "Speaking of that guy. You know the person I said hi to this morning?" I asked Roxas.

"Oh man, _He _worked on your car?" He said, looking remotely interested for the first time--well, today.

I nodded my head, smiling at him. "Yupp, it was the same guy. Freaky right?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

Roxas laughed. "He probably thinks you some kind of creep now. Seeing you pop up everywhere." He said

I felt my face get hot, straighten up from my spot on the couch. "No! Don't say that!" I said, pouting a bit. I'm not a creep..."And it was only two places! not _everywhere._" I added as an afterthought.

He stood up and brushed the wrinkles out of his jeans. "Fine. I'll let you think whatever you want." He said, taunting me about my 'creepy-ness'. He then walked away from me and into the kitchen, throwing the ice into the sink,and the bag into the garbage.

I huffed, leaning back against the couch,crossing my arms over my chest. "It was only two places.." I repeated to myself.

"Oh, by the way Sora" I heard Roxas shout from the kitchen,followed by the clashing of silverware. "I found your phone when I was unpacking."

I turned around on the couch to see him. "Really?" I beamed. "Where is it?" I asked, moving my head around the room to see if it's there; it wasn't.

"It's in here,next to the microwave." He said, grabbing a bunch of forks and putting them away into the drawer. "And I think Leon called you."

I got up off the couch, and made my way over to the microwave. There, lay my black phone; I picked it up and it said I had a missed call, from Leon. Hmm, Roxas was right. I wonder what he wanted?

I flipped open the phone and dialed his number,bringing the phone up to my ear. I shifted in my spot, waiting for him to pick up.

_Ring._

"Who you calling?" Roxas asked, looking over at me.

_Ring._

"Leon..." I said, looking at the wall in front of me.

_Ring--click--rustle._

_"Hello?"  
_

"Hey Leon." I chirped into the phone. "I'm guessing you called earlier?"

_"Oh, hey Sora. Yeah, I did." _He said, sounding a bit surprised.

"Sorry I didn't answer, I didn't have-" _Crash._ I looked over to see that Roxas had dropped a few spoons into the sink. "Roxas, can you be any louder?" I asked him, trying to cover the phone with my hand.

He looked at me, blinking a few time, then picked up a handful of spoons and dropped them into the sink,some even on the floor, making many another crashing sounds. "Yes." He said, smirking.

I rolled my eyes at him. "You can be so obnoxious some times.." I grumbled, looking away from him.

He snorted out a laugh, and placed a hand in his hip. "And your not?" He asked me.

"No while your on the phone!" I said, looking back at him with narrowed eyes.

_"Sora?" _

"Oh." His voice brought me back to my conversation with him. "Sorry about that.." I said into the phone, taking a few steps away from Roxas. "Roxas was distracting me.."

I heard him chuckle lightly. _"No problem. So how are things, with moving in and all."_

My eyebrows furrowed together. Is that all he wanted to know? Just how things are? He never does that... "Oh it's great. The house is nice and, um...spacious. The neighborhood is...pretty mellow from what I've seen."

_"That's good." _He cleared his throat, then stopped for a few seconds before talking again. _"Listen, if you and Roxas aren't doing anything tomorrow. I could show you around town, just so you guys get a feel for it."_

Okay, now that was too weird. Leon called, to ask how things were going. Then offers to show us around...I think the world is coming to it's end...

_"Well?" _He asked, curious to my answer.

I blinked my eyes. "Y-yeah. Sure, no problem. What time?" I asked, fumbling with the belt loop on my jeans.

"_Sometime around noon."_

I let my hand drop my my side. "Sweet. Sound good to me. I'll go tell Roxas." I said, slowly walking towards him.

"_Alright, see you then." _

By then I made it to Roxas, standing next to him. "Mhm, bye." I said, taking the phone away from my ear and shutting it. I started at the phone in my hand, comprehending what happened.

Roxas must of notice the weird stares I was giving to my phone. "What?" He asked, fumbling with the last few spoons.

I started at the phone a little longer. "Leon called to...see how things were."

The sound of spoons banging against each other stopped. "What..." He asked again, giving me a weird look.

"And he said he wanted to show us around town tomorrow around noon."

"....Did he willingly offer? Or did someone put him up to it?" Roxas asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Don't know, still...it's weird." I said, laughing a bit. "Plus who could force him to do anything?"

"Hmm." Roxas said. "Mom could."

"Ah yes..she is very, persuasive." I said, scrunching up my face. By persuasive I mean annoying you till you break down and give in. Just imagining my mom pestering Leon into showing us around town seemed funny; A short women pointing her finger and yelling at a freakishly tall intimidating guy. "Anyways, so I guess we have plans for tomorrow."

"I guess so." Roxas said, folding up the box that held the silverware, and throwing it away.

I sighed. "Well, I'm going to take a shower,considering I haven't since we've gotten here." I said. "Did we unpack the towels yet?"

"If by we you mean _me, _yes; _We_ did." He said.

I laughed a little, blushing a bit to. "Sorry, I'll start helping you unpack." I said. "So where are they?" I asked him, starting to walk away, up the stairs.

"There in the little closet thing next to the bathroom." He shouted, loud enough for me to hear.

"Thanks Roxy!" I yelled from the top of the stair case.

I heard him growl. "How many time do I need to tell you, NOT, to call me that?!"He shouted.

I laughed to myself, before grabbing a towel and entering the bathroom, closing the door behind me.

*^*  
_Riku's P.O.V._

Those were the slowest four hours of my life. Today was just a really slow day; for me anyways. I only had to work on one car besides Sora's. The other car took most of the four hours, but it was just so....boring. Oh well, I'm done and free for the weekend. Finally. All I need to do now, is find Axel, and get ready for..whatever Cloud had planned for tonight.

Come to think of it...he never did tell me what he had planned; Or even if he _had_ the slightest idea where we're going.

I let that thought ponder in my mind when I walked over into the locker room. No one was there, since they all left earlier. I walked over to my locker in the back corner. Stopping in front of it, my fingers grasped the lock, and moved to put the code in. A soft click was heard when I pulled on the lock ,opening it. Another click was heard echo through the silent locker room was heard when I opened my locker.

I took my shirt and the jeans I borrowed from Axel, out of the locker, and placed them onto the bench behind me. I quickly unbuttoned my boring uniform shirt and took it off, shivering a little feeling cold. Can't Kari turn up the heat in this place? It's always so cold...

Turning around, I grabbed my shirt and slipped into it. I yawned, feeling absolutely exhausted , then grabbed the jeans and put them on. I took the hair tie out, letting my silver hair flow all over my face. Grabbing my jacket out of the locker, I closed it then turned to walk out of the room.

My foot steps could be heard echoing throughout the shop, since no one else was there. Wait a second - Where's Cloud? I looked around the shop, trying to find a glimpse of blond spiky hair; But I didn't. Why isn't he here! He was suppose to tell me what we're going to do after work.

I mentally groaned to myself and just kept on walking; Giving up on trying to find Cloud. Then something caught my eye. It was my car, I almost forgot that it's all fixed and what not. I smiled knowing that now I don't have to walk--

Wait...Oh god.

Shit...

I didn't bring the keys with me. I slapped my head with my hand, angry at -well- myself. "Way to go Riku." I muttered quietly to myself. "Smooth fucking move..." I then walked away from my car, leaving it in the shop for one more day.

Note to self. Bring the keys to work next time. I made my way over to the front door, pushing it open and hearing the bell 'ding' above it.

Ugh. I was snowing; Badly. The streets were lightly covered in a thin sheet of white snow, and there was more falling from the sky. Come on, why does the weather have to be so gross when I need to walk home? I sighed, zipping up my jacket as far as it would go, and put my hands into my pocket, walking away from the shop.

I made it at least a good few feet away from the shop, before a loud 'beep' was heard. I froze in mid-step and turned around to see what it was.

Huh..It was Cloud, sitting in his car. He motioned his hand for me to come over through his car window. I did, turning around and walking over to his blue car. His window came came down so he could talk to me.

"I thought you left?" I asked him, seeing my breath in front of me.

He shook his head. "Nah, I knew you were too stupid to bring your car keys," He started "so I decided to wait for you and give you a ride."

I glared at him for his 'stupid' comment, but then let out a sigh of relief. Thank god I didn't have to walk to where Axel worked. His work was a good three miles away from mine, and walking there, in the snow, was not something I wanted to do.

"Thanks." I said, walking over to the passenger side of his car. My hand went to the handle on the door as I opened it, sitting down in the leather seat. I closed the door, not feeling the cold air anymore. "So why didn't you wait in the shop?" I asked, moving my hands to put them in front of the warm air that was blowing out of the heater.

He moved in his seat so he could face me. "It's freezing in there. So I came here to sit in my warm and toasty car." He said smiling. "Sorry if you were looking for me in there." He said, motioning his hand towards the shop.

"It's fine." I replied, getting comfortable in my seat.

"So anyways, where are we off to?" He asked me.

"To Axel's work." I said, still having my hands up to the warm air. He put the car in drive, and made his way out of the parking lot. Then the car came to a sharp halt.

"Where is..his work?" He asked, looking out in front of him to see if there were any cars.

My gaze went to the passing cars outside my window. "Take a left, and then just go straight for about three miles." I said, not taking my eyes off the passing cars.

"Oh yeah, now I remember." He said, turning the car into the was a few moments of silence. Nothing was heard besides the soft music in the background, and the sound of the car moving. I kept looking outside my windows, seeing building as we drove past them. Then I remembered; I still don't know what we're all so doing tonight.

"Hey Cloud?" I asked, breaking the silence between us. A quiet 'Hm' was heard from him as a response. "What are we doing tonight?"

He smiled the laughed a little. "Honestly, I have no idea. I just thought we'd go with the flow." He said, looking at the road in front of him.

I rose an eyebrow questionably. "What flow.." I asked, looking over at him.

"Exactly!" He said, not making any sense at all. I just sat there, not really knowing what to say back to him. But then he continued after a long pause. "I just thought we'd all get decide on what to do when we're all together."

"Sounds good..." I said, looking back out the window.

*^*  
_Axel's P.O.V._

I stared at the clock; **4:57.** Three more minutes till I can take my break. Three more, very slow minutes to kill. A strand or red hair fell in front of my eyes; I blew it away, but it just came back. Eh. I don't know why I can't just go home now, I mean really. It's almost two o'clock. The morning rush was over, thank god. It's the worst part of the day....Now there's barely anyone in here besides the few people with their laptops working on their stories. Pfft, they probably think they're so cool, _'Oh look at me, I'm writing in public.'_

I laugh a little at my thought. Then I heard Selphie's voice next to me as she was talking to some customer. Shit; if she sees me she's probably going to nag at me for not working... I looked around for- anything- to use to make it look like I'm working. '_Come on...Bingo!'_ I thought when I saw a tiny maroon rag. My hand darted out to grab it, and then I started to 'clean' the spot on the counter in front of me.

My eyes went to the clock again; **4:58.** UGH! Why does time go by so slow?! I unconsciously began 'cleaning' the spot harder with the rag.

"I think it's clean enough Axel."

I turned around to see Selphie standing behind me, her green eyes looking at the rag in my hands.

"Oh, well I'm just making sure it's spotless!" I said, lying straight through my teeth.

She laughed a little, bringing her hand to move her brown hair behind her ear. "You and me both know, that your just wasting time till your break starts."

I let out a fake gasp of shock. "How could you say something like that? I'd _never_ waste time at work!" I said, trying to look shocked.

She let out a giggle, and started walking away. "Whatever you say Axel." She said, then went into the back where the employees could only go.

I turned back around to look at the clock; **5:01.** YES! Time for my break, finally. Took the clock long enough. I walked from behind the counter,then stopped, looking for Demyx. My eyes drifted around the little cafe. '_Old lady...random guy...another guy with his lap top....guy reading a book...Aha! There's Demyx!"_ I thought to myself, then started walking towards him. Demyx was my best friend, besides Riku of course. I met him about six years ago when Riku and I moved here. He's a very interesting person, lets just keep it at that. He's only a few years youger than me, but hey, I still act like a five year old.

I was about half way to him when Selphie walked back outside. I turned to face her. "Hey Selphie!" I shouted across the cafe, bringing her attention to me, along with other people I didn't know. "I'm taking my break now!" I said, walking over to the corner table where Demyx was sitting.

"Fine, just don't take forever like last time Axel!" She yelled back, warning me, then went back to cleaning up the counter.

I made my way over to the small table, grabbing a chair and sitting down in it. "God..." Relaxing a bit, I cracked my neck to relieve some tension. "I hate working.." I complained to Demyx.

He just laughed in response. "Don't we all?" He mused, closing his taking a sip from his coffee. One good thing about working here; Free coffee. Thanks to my amazing manager, Selphie, we can get as much free coffee as we please. Awesome, I know. It's especially good for me since I practically live off caffeine.

I leaned down so my chin would rest against the table. "But come on. I just want to go and start the weekend!" I wined, looking up at Demyx.

His blue eyes made contact with my bright green ones. "Just hang in there for another thirty minutes." He said, blinking, not looking at anything else but me.

I scrunched my face in annoyance, knowing I have thirty minutes left to kill. I sighed, my hand reaching up to bury itself in my uncontrollable red hair. "So what's new with you?" I asked him.

He put down his coffee, placed his elbow on the table, and rested his face on his hand. "Did I tell you what I got in the mail this morning?" He asked me.

One of my eyebrows rose. "No..." I stated. "At least I don't think so." He probably did tell me, I just either forgot or tuned him out. I know; I'm amazing. My hand reached over to his cup of coffee, stealing it away from him, then taking a rather big sip.

He ran his other hand through his sandy blond hair, then putting it on the table. "So you know how I finally moved out of my apartment a few days ago, right?" He asked, playing with a red straw in his hand.

"Yeah..." I responded, lifting my head off the table, blinking a few times.

"And you know how I took, _forever, _clean the apartment so I could get my deposit back?" He asked again, "and I even felt like being nice by leaving a brand new roll of toilet paper on the toilet for the people that were moving in.." He continued.

I nodded my head. He really did take days to clean his apartment. Poor guy...even dragged me along with him a few times to help him. Worst days of my life, let me tell you. I sat there, waiting for him to finish. "Well, I got a fine this morning. It was for leaving _personal_ items behind...personal items meaning the damn toilet paper."

....

I bit my lip, holding back a snicker. _Don't laugh. Come on, don't laugh. _I thought to myself, trying oh so hard not to brake out into a fit of laughter.

"Fifty bucks...I got fined..fifty fucking bucks..for leaving toilet paper. What the fuck man!" He said, clearly upset at his...misfortune.

Silence.

He looked back at me, furrowing his eyebrows. "Axel?" He waved a hand in front of my face, trying to get my attention. "Hello? Why aren't you-"

I couldn't hold it back anymore, I started laughing - hard. Really, who wouldn't laugh at something like that?

His eyes narrowed at me. "It isn't funny you ass.." He said, still glaring at me.

I grabbed my sides because they were hurting. "Of course it's funny!" I said, wiping away a tear from my eye. "You'd laugh too if it happened to anyone else."

He crossed his arms over his chest, making his white buttoned up shirt and black apron crinkle up a bit, then smiled. "Yeah..your right. I'm just, bummed that it happened to me." He said, leaning backwards so his back rested on the chair.

I let out one final soft laugh. "I'm sorry man, I guess that's what you get for being nice." I said, jokingly. He still looked semi-upset.

"Okay let me cheer you up with one of my fucked up moments in life." I said, leaning in towards him. "Let's see...there was that one time at that store. Eh, no not good enough.." I said, thinking harder; A few seconds passed and I snapped my finger. "Got it! I said, more like shouted, once again receiving stares from strangers.

He rose an eyebrow slowly. "Well, go on." He said, stealing his coffee back from me.

"Alright," I started "So a few months back, I went to this party. Of course I got completely drunk out of my mind...Yet I still managed to meet this really hot girl." I stopped, then thought about her for a second. " I wonder what happened to her after that party..." I said, drifting away from the point of my story.

Demyx cleared his throat, and looked at me, waiting to finish. "Oh, right anyways. So we both decided to go to the park. Don't ask why, we just did. " I said, shrugging my shoulders. "Well, at the park, we somehow managed to fool around on the bench-"

He snorted a laugh. "Oh how romantic." He said sarcastically, cutting me off.

"**Anyways**_,_ after out little, bonding time, we found out that, our clothes were gone." I laughed a little, remembering that interesting night. "Turned out some little rotten kids stole out clothes. So we had to walk around town, trying to get back to the party; Naked." I said, finishing my story.

The sound of his laughter rang through my ears. "I'm guessing that made you feel better?" I asked him.

He nodded his head, a smile shown brightly across his face. "Yeah, it did." He laughed a little again. "I just can't stop picturing it." He said grinning at me.

I smirked at him. "Glad to know your picturing me naked..." I said, playing with the name tag on my very stained black apron.

He threw a few napkins hitting me in the face. "Don't flatter yourself."

I grinned at him, showing off my pearly white teeth. "I don't need to- oh!" I said, feeling a little buzz in my pocket. I reached my hand in my pocket, pulling out a thin red phone. I held it a little closer to my face, since I didn't have amazing vision. '_One new text message'._

"Dude, why don't you get some glasses or something?" He asked me.

"Pfft, glasses would make me look like a nerd." I said, opening my phone to read what it said.

He rolled his eyes, then tilted his head to the side. "And bringing everything a milliliter from your face and squinting your eyes is so much better." He said, sarcastically.

I stuck my tongue out at him, before looking back at my phone, pressing the view now button. "Huh.." I said out loud. '_You still at work?'_ Was what the text said, and it was from Riku.

"What is it?" Demyx asked me, leaning over the table to see the phone.

I blinked a few times, before pressing the reply button. "Nothing, just a text from Riku." I mumbled, focusing on texting.

I heard Demyx laugh. "He texts?"

"Well yeah; Don't let that silver hair of his fool you. He's not some old man who's never heard of technology." I pressed the send button, then closed the phone, placing it on the table.

He smiled, taking a sip from his coffee cup. "What did he say?"

"He just wanted to know if I'm still at work." I said, looking at the falling snow outside the window next to me.

"Speaking of Riku.." He said.

I tilt me head to the side, staring at him confused. "Huh?" I asked, but then felt a tap on my shoulder. I whirled my head around to see Riku standing behind me. "Riku!" I said, moving my whole body in the chair to face him. "To what do I owe for you gracing me with your presence on this lovely afternoon?" I asked, curious. Hmm..he probably came to get some free coffee. Pfft, mooch.

"Cloud wanted us to do something tonight, so I came here to ask if you were free." Riku said, grabbing a near by chair,sitting between Demyx and I. He gave a small wave to Demyx, acknowledging him. Deymx gave him a smile and wave in return.

I tilt my head to the side, looking at Riku. "You came all this way just to ask me that?" I said,giving him a look.

He turned to face me. "That, and Cloud wanted to see you." He said quickly.

"Wait- Cloud is here?!" I shouted excitingly, making Riku wince at the loudness of my voice.

"Yeah. He was parking his car or something. He'll be here soon."He said, looking out the window at his car.

"Awesome." I said smiling. I haven't seen Cloud in ages, with work and all. God I miss him; He's another one of my close friends,thanks to Riku. I met Cloud a few years back when I went to pick Riku up from work since his car wasn't working that day. Cloud and I instantly hit it off, with our lame jokes and similar personalities.

As if right on cue, Cloud walked in, looking around for Riku and I. "Hey! You with the gravity defying bright blond hair!" I shouted across the room, grabbing his attention. "Over here!" I saw him smile, then walk over to us, passing many people that were giving me and him weird looks for my outburst.

He stopped in front of me. "Hey Axel, long time no see?" He said, smiling down at me.

"Of course; It's been what? Weeks? Months? Years?!" I asked jokingly, knowing it's only been about two weeks since I last saw him.

He chuckled, putting his hands into his coat pocket. "Too long man." He said, looking around for a chair. He grabbed one behind him, then sat down right next to Demyx and I, across from Riku.

"I don't think you two have met yet." I said, looking back and forth between Cloud and Demyx.

"I don't think we have." Demyx said, piping into the conversation.

"Well," I started. "Cloud, this is Demyx." I said, pointing over to my sandy blond haired friend. "Demyx, this is Cloud."

"Nice to meet you." Cloud said, offering his hand.

Demyx grabbed it, shaking it. "Like wise." He said while smiling.

"Alright." Cloud said, clapping his hands together. "Time to get down to business."

Riku rose a silver brow."Business?" He asked, looking a little confused.

Blue eyes made contact with aqua."Our plans for tonight. Oh!" Cloud said, then looking to me. "Are you free tonight?" He asked me.

I nodded my head, my red hair shaking as I did. "Yeah, I actually get off in fifteen minutes so-"

"Axel! Demyx!"

Selphie's voice grabbed our attention as we both looked over to her across the room. She was standing in front of the counter, hand on her hip, lightly tapping her foot. "Your break ended ten minutes ago." She said, looking at us both. "Now both of you, get over here and help me close up!" She shouted.

I groaned, as did Demyx. Once again time slipped our mind; **Accidentally** of course. I got up, pushing my chair back, making it hit the table behind me. I winced at the loud noise it made. "We'll talk about the plans after I get off." I said, to Riku and Cloud

"Sure" Riku said, looking at me. "Take your time." Cloud nodded his head in agreement with Riku.

I smiled at them, then walked off with Demyx to where Selphie was, helping her close up the cafe.

*^*

"Bye Selphie! See you bright and early on Monday!" I shouted back into the cafe. She waved back with a smile on her face, then went back to cleaning up. I already said my good byes to Demyx, but he was still in the cafe getting his jacket. I walked over to Cloud's car where he and Riku were standing. "So what is our plans for tonight." I asked, leaning onto Cloud's car.

Cloud brought a hand up to scratch his head. "I'm not sure; We never really talked about it." He said, letting his hand fall to his side.

I rose one eyebrow. "Really? You two have no idea..." I asked, motioning my hands between them.

Riku snorted out a laugh. "Nope, not a clue." He said, shivering from the cold air. "Can we get in the car now?" He asked, clearly irritated by the snow.

Cloud laughed, then took out his keys and opened the car. "Axel, you want a ride?" He asked me.

I nodded my head, grinning. "I call shot gun!" I said, running over to where Riku was about to open the door. "Sorry, I did call it Riku." I said looking at him, then climbing into the passenger seat closing the door. Riku dropped his hand, then sighed muttering something along the lines of '_Pain in the ass_'. I know I am, and god I love it.

Riku opened the back door, getting into the car; At the same time Cloud opened the drivers seat and got in.

"Alright," I started, changing the radio station to find something I like. "Since you two can't think of a place to go, I will." I stopped on the rock station, turning down the volume a bit. "And I know the perfect place." I said, grinning and leaning back into the seat.

Riku leaned forward so he could see me. "And that would be-?"He asked, curious.

"A club." I said, looking at both of them.

Cloud smiled. "I'm game. I haven't been to one in ages." He said, looking at me.

"Alright, now I have to convince this _thing _to go." I said, pointing at Riku.

He glared at me through his bangs. "I'm not a thing you ass." He said to me. "And besides, you know how much I hate dancing."

"Oh come on Riku, one night won't kill you." Cloud said, leaning over his seat to look at Riku.

"Yes it will..." He mumbled in response, crossing his arms over his chest, leaning back on the seat.

I turned in my seat to look at him, doubling my eyes in size and sticking out my lower lip. "Come one Riku," I tilted my head to the side. "Please? - For me?" I asked him, as nicely as I could. He looked at me, no emotion written on his face. Then he looked away, biting his bottom lip, thinking about it.

I've already won half the little battle; If anyone can get Riku to think about something, he's more likely to say yes. He looked back at me, then sighed,defeated. "Fine." He grumbled out. "I'll go- but I won't have fun!" He protested.

"Oh that's a lie, you always have fun when I'm around." I said, turning around so my back faced him. "Plus Cloud's here, which adds to the fun."

Riku groaned out loud. "Joy..." He said, pausing before continuing. "What club is it anyways?" He asked, looking out his window.

"Mystic." I replied. "Demyx told me about it, he said it was actually really cool place. It just opened a few weeks ago."

"I actually wanted to go there." Cloud said, putting the car in reverse and backing out into the road. "So where do we go from here?" He asked, putting the car in drive.

"Our house." Riku and I said in unison. "I need to get changed." I said, grabbing the seat belt and putting it on.

"And I need to shower- bad." Riku said, still looking out the window.

"Alright, your house it is." Cloud said, driving the car down the road.

*^*  
_Riku's P.O.V._

The car ride was to my house was, how shall I put this- loud. I swear, when those two get together, ugh. They act like sugar high three year olds; It is amusing at times, not going to lie. When we made it to my house, we all went inside. I went straight into the bathroom to take a nice hot shower,while leaving Axel and Cloud to mingle around the house. I took no more than ten minutes in the shower, so I wouldn't keep them waiting for long.

By the time I got out of the shower,I quickly got dressed then went downstairs. Axel and Cloud were already dressed, waiting for me. We all left the house and went back into Cloud's car,driving to the club. It was a long drive, seeing how it was all the way downtown, it took us about twenty five minutes just to get there.

When we did arrive- oh man. It was packed. Cars were parked everywhere what seemed like for miles, and there was a ridiculously huge line outside the club. We were probably going to wait forever just to get in! Axel told us that he had, 'connections' of some sort,so we wouldn't have to wait in the line.

I just hope his 'connections' are good, seeing that he's never been here before. But you never know, Axel does know a lot of people, so I wouldn't be surprised. We finally found a parking spot, I have no idea how, but we did after looking for a few minutes. It wasn't that far from the club which was good.

We made our way over to the back of the line. "You sure you can get us in Axel?" I asked, not really believing that he could.

"Oh yeah. It won't be a problem." He said, pushing through the line of people, Cloud and I following behind him. We made it to the front of the line, after pushing through too many people to count. I saw Axel go straight up to the bouncer.

"Guess who!" He shouted at him.

The bouncer looked down at him, eying him suspiciously. "Who the hell are you?" He said, not sounding too happy. Oh god- Axel's probably going to get him self hurt..

"It's me! Axel!" He said, looking a little hurt.

The bouncer guy looked at him up and down before blinking and smiling. "Whoa, it is you!" He said, laughing. "Man, I couldn't tell it was you."

Axel laughed a bit, "I thought _this-"_ He brought his hand up to his hair,pointing at it. "Would give it away."

The bouncer shrugged. "Hey, it's dark, and I'm already blind as it is." He said. "So what bring you here?"

Axel gave him a look. "The club.." He stated to him.

"Oh- right,stupid question. Here, go in. I wouldn't make you wait in line." He said, motioning for him to get in.

"Thanks man." Axel started, "By the way- these two are with me." He pointed at Cloud and I. The bouncer looked at us,before letting us in.

Axel leaned in close to my ear. "Told you I'd get us in." He said.

"I must say, I did have my doubts." I said, looking at him.

He pointed at him self. "Never doubt the master!" He shouted, making me chuckle, same with Cloud.

We walked down a short dark blue hall, the music getting loud with every other step we took. We pushed open a clear door at was the end of the hall. Wow, was all I could say. The placed was packed, it seemed liked hundreds of people we there. The smell of alcohol instantly hit my sense as we walking in farther, getting through a group of people. There were flashing colored lights,going along with the beat of the techno music that was playing loudly.

After what seemed like ages, we found an open table to sit at. "So,what do you guys think?" Axel asked, yelling a bit to be heard over the music.

"This place is awesome!" Cloud shouted "I'm going to go find me a girl to dance with." He said, leaving us and walking towards the dance floor.

"Well" Axel said, sitting down across from me. "Are you actually going to have any fun?"

I looked around the place one more time, before answering. "Yeah." I paused, and looked back at him. "I think I just need to loosen up and have a good time,for once." I said, surprisingly even myself.

Axel smiled at me. "Good, well I want to go get shit faced. Care to join me?" He asked, standing up in front of me.

I smiled, getting up out of the seat. "Sure, But not too bad. I know I'll end up driving you two idiots home." I said, looking at him.

He laughed, then started walking, me following him. "You know that's true." He said.

This was actually, going to be fun. And that what I needed; Fun. I just wanted to get rid of all the stress I had lately, and what better place to do it than here with friends?

*^*

You do not know how glad I am that I actually agreed to going. Thank god for pushy friends. The night went pretty good. We spent a few hours there, and I actually danced. Well, I was forced at first, but still. That counts as dancing. Axel is completely shit faced, just like he said he wanted to be, and Cloud- Eh, not in the best driving condition.

Well, what do you know. I was going to be the designated driver after all. Shocking isn't it. We all cmae out of the club some time around eleven o'clock and made our way over to Cloud's car. It wasn't as easy as it sounded,thanks to Axel. I love him but, god, he's never drinking around me again. He was giggling like a little girl,every two seconds, and tripping over himself and the air around him.

Thank god Cloud wasn't as bad as him. I don't know what I'd do if both of them were drunk. I shuttered at the thought of that, and them stopped walking when I reached the car.

"Cloud,give me the keys." I said, looking at him on the other side of the car.

Cloud giggled a little, then showed his hands to me. "I don't....don't have...keys." He muttered out of his drunken state.

I rolled my eyes at him. "There in your pocket." I said

He looked at me, like I was some sort of alien,and made no attempt to get the keys.

"I'll come to the rescue!" Axel shouted, stumbling over to Cloud, putting his weight onto the car. He shoved his hand in Cloud pocket, making Cloud laugh and squirm in his spot. Axel stuck his tongue out in concentration. "Aha!" He yelled, holding the shiny keys in his hand. "Now, I shall drive." He slurred, walking over to the drivers seat, hand still in the air showing off the keys.

I stopped him before he made it to the door. "No, give me the keys, I'm driving." I said, sternly.

He leaned in closer to me, and furrowed his brow. "You can't tell me what to do!" He said.

The smell of alcohol tickled my nose. "Yes I can, now give me the keys." I said, slightly annoyed.

He smiled then giggled again. "Okay." he said, thrusting his hand out, handing me the keys.

"Thanks, now come on,get in the car. I want to go home." I said, opening the car door and getting in. A few moments later, Axel and Cloud opened their doors and got in. I started the car, and backed out into the road, careful not to hit anything,or anyone.

The car ride was much quieter than before, surprisingly; Except for the occasional outburst between Axel and Cloud. The ride home did take a little long than before,thanks to me taking a wrong turn. Nothing too serious though. At least they didn;t try to take the wheel from me like last time. That, wasn't pretty...

I finally made it back to our house,and parked in the driveway, then shutting the car off. I turned around to see Cloud. "Since I'm too tired to actually drive you home, your crashing at our house." I said

Cloud then got a look of panic on his face. "No! I need to go home a feed James!" He said, grabbing his hair. James was his pet fish...

I sighed "James will be fine." I said,getting out of the car.

"Are you sure Riku?" He asked, getting out of the car. "What if James dies!"

"He won't..now stop worrying." I said, irritated.

"Cloud's sleeping over?!" Axel shouted,still in the car. He suddenly getting back most of the energy he lost.

"Yeah he is, now come on, get out of the car." I said, closing my door, and walking over to the front door opening it. I flicked the light on, and then kicked off my shoes. Cloud walked in the house, Axel following right behind him. Cloud took off his shoes and his jacket and dropped them onto the floor.

"Your gonna sleep on the-"

_Thud._

I turned to see that Axel had tripped when he tried to take his shoes off. "-couch.." I said, finishing my sentence.

Axel moved a little on the floor, then grabbed his arm in pain, "Ow...stupid floor..." He mumbled out.

Cloud snickered, then pointed at him. "You fell." He said, laughing louder. This made Axel laugh to, I don't know why. Seems like everything was funnier when your drunk. Shame...

I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. "Axel, get up." I said, looking down at him.

He looked up at me, then blinked. "I can't." He said, closing his eyes.

"So..." I stated, leaning over him more. "Your going to sleep here?"

He nodded his head, then curled up into a ball. A few second later, I heard him snore softly. "Well..that was fast..." I muttered out, a little shocked how fast he fell asleep. I looked at Cloud. "I'm going to bed. Make your self comfortable on the couch." I said making my way up the stairs.

"Goodnight Riku!" he shouted from the bottom of the stairs.

'_Finally...away from those fools..' _I thought in my head. I made my way to my room, and pushed open the door, closing it quietly behind me. I yawned, feeling a little tired from today, and stretched my arms above my head. I took off my shirt,dropping it somewhere onto the floor, doing the same with my pants.

I may be a neat freak,but I was just too tired to actually put them away. They'll be there in the morning anyways. I crawled into bed, lifting the covers and getting under them,suddenly feeling warm. As soon as my head hit the pillow, my eyes fluttered closed, and I drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**A/N:** 1. The little 'stories' Axel and Demyx shared, I got from Fmylife .com [Best website in the world] I couldn't help myself Xp I **needed** to put those in somewhere.  
2. Glasses = Coolness. Not nerdy-ness Xp Even I wear them lol  
3. Hope there weren't a lot of mistakes. I tried to catch them all :p  
4.I hope you enjoyed the chapter :D I had fun writing it, and of course, REVIEW!!


	4. Chapter 4

**"Can You Help Me?  
**

**Description: **Sora has always been a kind person; Giving help to anyone that needed it. Riku has had a troubled life, and in turn, shuts anyone out that tries to help him. Can Sora be the one to help Riku not be so cold and distant? [RikuxSora] [AkuRoku]on the side.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Never have, never will...*sigh* Anyways! This, my lovely readers, is **MY** story. The plot and what not was **MY** idea. Take anything from it, and you will regret it.

**Rating/Warning:** Mature - Language, Violence

**A/N: **Well, this took longer than expected; I had major writers block and the past two weeks have been very VERY...busy -_- But nevertheless, I have finished, and that's what counts :p So read and enjoy! The story starts out in Riku's POV.

Also, thanks for everyone that the reviewed and put this story on their favorites/alerts :D

* * *

**.::Chapter Four::.**

_I stared up into the blue cloudy sky_,_ feeling the cool crisp autumn air on my skin, making me shiver a littler. I moved a few strands of hair from my face, and placed my hand back behind my head. _

_"So..." Axel said, making me turn my head to face him. "What does the infamous Riku have planned for today?" He asked, while reaching over to grab an orange leaf that landed on my stomach, then leaning back on the big oak tree._

_My gaze went to the dirt around the tree, then back up at Axel. "Koji is coming over in a little while." I said, staring at him. He didn't make an effort to say anything; He just sat there ripping the leaf little by little, I knew what he was thinking though. I moved so I was laying on my side, with my head resting against my hand. "You don't like him, do you.." I asked, even though I well knew what his opinion of him was.  
_

_He wrinkled up his face for a second, then reached his hand in his pocket. "You know how I feel about him," He pulled out a bright red lighter, flicking his thumb over it, and bringing a tiny flame to life. "I just get a bad vibe from him." He said, putting the flame on the leaf, watching the leaf burn slowly._

_I looked at the burning leaf with some fascination before speaking. "He's not a bad guy, just;" I stopped, thinking over my words. "He's just a little distant is all.." I said, trying to make him change his mind._

_He snorted a laugh then rolled his eyes. "He's the kind of person that will stab you in the back." He said, turning the leaf so the flame would reach the other side, then dropping it once the entire leaf burned. "You'll see.." He drifted off, grabbing another leaf in the air that had fallen from the tree he was leaning on. Once again, he flicked the lighter on, and the leaf had the same fiery fate as the last one.  
_

_I looked away from him and bit my lip, thinking over what he said. Axel was always right about people, I'll give him that. He can just tell if someone's 'No good' as he puts it. But it's Koji; I've known him for years. I actually trusted him, which is hard to come by from me. I don't think he'll do anything, right?  
_

_He dropped the leaf into the dirt ground, and stomping out what was left of the fire with his foot. __"Speaking of the devil.." Axel said, pointing his finger to his left, making turn my head into that direction. It was Koji, walking towards us.  
_

_Koji finally made his way over to Axel and I, standing next to my legs. His hands were shoved in the pockets of his black hoodie,which was zipped up all the way. "Hey there you guys." He said, smiling at us, showing off his perfect smile.  
_

_Axel huffed in response, acknowledging his presence, but still didn't look at him. I looked up at him from my spot on the ground, squinting my eyes from the brightest of the sun. "Hey Koji." I said. "What's up?" I asked him casually, breaking the gaze he had on Axel to look over at me.  
_

_His ice cold blue eyes made contact with mine. "I'm still coming over, right?" He asked me, unsure of what was going on today,and taking another glace back at Axel.  
_

_I nodded my head. "Yeah, we can leave now if you want." I said, shifting a little to get in a more comfortable position. I knew those two didn't like each other; Getting them away from each other was the best idea. Who wants to be stuck in a very awkward and tension filled spot? I sure don't.  
_

_He blinked a few times when the breeze picked up again, making his dark brown hair fall into this eyes. "Alright with me." He said, reaching out his hand from his pocket in front of me._

_I sat up on the ground, and grabbed his hand, and pulled my self up. "I'll see you later Axel." I said, brushing off specks of dirt and pieces of grass off my dark blue baggy pants._

_Axel brought his head up so he could see me better, but that was kind of hard considering his bright red hair fell in his face, covering most of his eyes. He shook his head, moving the spiky hair out of the way. "Your coming over to my house later." He said, basically commanding me to go over. "I actually made the place look decent." He said, smirking a little. _

_I let out a chuckle. "Sure, I will. See ya." I said, waving to him while walking away with Koji. He gave me a small wave in return before closing his eyes and leaning back against the tree._

_Koji and I walked slowly through the park towards the exit, enjoying what was left of the season before winter would come and ruin it. After a few minutes of silence, Koji spoke up. "Axel has his own place?"_

_"Yeah.." I breathed out, slowing down a bit so I would run into a little kid that ran past us. "He got it a few months ago when he turned eighteen." I finished, informing Koji. _

_I saw him bite his bottom lip out of the corner of my eye. "You still plan on moving in with him?" He asked, not looking at me._

_"Sure do," I stated, walking out of the park and standing on the corner of the sidewalk, waiting for the cars to pass so I could cross the street leading to my neighborhood. "Two more weeks until I turn eighteen, and then I can actually move out of the hell hole I'm in." I said, a little anger could be heard from my words. "I actually saved enough to get a place with him out of town." I added as an afterthought.  
_

_I quiet 'Oh' was heard from him, ending our oh so interesting conversation. We crossed the street, careful not to get hit by any cars that decided to drive through the red lights. We made it to the other side, and then slowed down our pace to a comfortable speed. Koji and I walked down the side walk, and turned into my neighborhood, walking to the second house on the left._

_I made it up onto the front steps, and shoved my hand into my pants pocket. "Where are those damn keys.." I muttered to myself, feeling around for the silver keys. "Got 'em" I whipped out the shiny object and put it in the lock, opening the door. The warm air of the house was the first thing I felt, which was very nice after spending all day outside. I walked in, kicking off my shoes, and took of my jacket; Koji did the same. "Here, let me take your hoodie-"_

_"No." He interrupted me. "It's ok, I-I'll keep it." He said, pulling his hoodie closer to his body. _

_I eyed him for a moment, before brushing it off and walking to the living room. I tossed my jacket onto the couch before I walked over to the fridge, in a desperate search for juice. I felt Koji's presence as I was looking for my drink. "You want something?" I asked him, grabbing a carton of grape juice and twisting off the cap._

_He shook his head. "I'm fine, thanks." He said, looking around the room. _

_I shrugged, then started drinking from the carton. Mmm, juice. One of the world's best things to drink. The room was filled with silence, except the gulping sounds I made while drinking the juice.  
_

_ He shifted a little in his spot, then looked at me. "Are your parents home?"_

_I took one final gulp, before taking the carton away. "Nope." I wiped off juice from my face with my hand. "Sam is never here and Judy's at work." I continued, opening the fridge and placing the juice back inside._

_"It seems like they're never home."_

_I shrugged my shoulders. "I actually like that." I said, meaning every word of it. I never really did like it when they were home; Too much, fighting and tension. Every time they aren't here, for what ever reason, I take full advantage of the empty house. It's one of the few times I have some peace and quiet to myself. "Come on, let's go to my room." I said, walking away from the fridge. "I wanna show you something."_

_Koji followed me as I went up the stair, making them creak with every step we took. No surprise, this house **was**__ really old. We walked down the short hall, since my room was the last one on the left, and then pushed open my door._

_There wasn't anything too special about my room. There was a bed, a dresser, some windows. Dull, boring, unimaginative. Sad really, considering I was a very creative and artsy person. The only creative things that existed in my room were some pictures I painted or drew that hung on the wall._

_That was one thing Koji and I had in common. We're both art freaks, love it, and live for it. That's how we ended up being friends anyways.  
_

_Koji walked over to my bed and sat down at the edge, hands shoved in the pockets of his hoodie. He looked around my room, eying everything like he's never seen it before. _

_"My room is boring, I know." I said, walking over to my closet, opening it and looking for what I wanted to show him._

_The bed made another creaking sound and the sound of footsteps was what I heard, letting me know he got off the bed. "It's fine really." He said, walking around room, occasionally picking things up and looking at it._

_"It doesn't matter that much anyways." I moved a piece of clothing out of the way, still looking. "I'm moving out soon." I said, digging through the 'mess' in my closet. After searching for what seemed like forever, I finally found it. I grabbed the tiny book and stood up, blowing off dust from the cover, and turned around. "Here it is, I think you- what are you doing?" I asked Koji, narrowing my eyes at what he was holding in his hands._

_My little black box. The little black box that had every penny I earned in it. It was the only place I could keep my money, seeing how this town didn't have a bank for miles. And he had my box!_

_"Koji." I said more sternly this time. "Why do you have-"_

_"Hate to break it to you Riku," He said interrupting me, his back still facing me. "But I really need this."_

_I stood there, a little confused at what he was saying. "What do you mean, 'you need this'?" I asked, repeating his words._

_A few second of tension filled silence passed before he turned around, now finally looking at me. "I got into some sort of, trouble, if you want to put it that way." He said, looking my straight in the eye. "And they said if I payed them a certain amount of money, they wouldn't fuck me up."  
_

_Then it hit me. He was going to steal it! The book in my hand dropped on the floor, and I took a step towards him. "Your not taking my money Koji." I said, taking another step to him._

_"That's where you wrong Riku." He spat out, smirking a little."You have just enough money for me to pay them off." He moved the box so it was closer to him. "And I really need to get out of my little mess."_

_My fists clenched at my sides. "Your not fucking taking it." I said, anger dripping from every word that I said to him._

_He snorted out a laugh then smiled at me. "Watch me." _

_With that he made a run for the door, the box still held tightly against him. I couldn't let him get away with this. He's not just going to come in here and steal every fucking penny I worked hard for! Not without a fight anyways. My reflexes kicked in, and I ran past him to the door, shutting it hard. He stopped a few steps in front of me and watched as I put my entire weight against the door, preventing him from leaving._

_Ice cold eyes narrowed. "Move." He said, glaring daggers into me._

_I didn't budge; He didn't scare me. Not one bit. __"No." I spat back at him. "Not until you give me the goddamn money back." _

_He let out a growl, then leaned in closer to my face. "You really don't want to mess with me; Move." He said, looking at me._

_Without a second thought, I hurled myself at him knowing what I'm getting myself into. My fist came in contact with his jaw, hard. This caught him off guard since he stumbled back a few steps, gripping his face__ with the free hand that wasn't holding the box. Guess he didn't think I'd fight back._

_He drew his arm across his lip, and saw a thin line of blood across his hoodie and some on the back of his hand. His head snapped up to look at me. "You bastard." He said, straightening up, still shocked that I had hit him. "You fucking hit me."_

_I didn't give him a response. Just silence except for my breathing as I stood there, back still against the door, with my fist clenched at my sides, ready for whatever he was going to through at me. _

_"I'll show you," He then quickly made his way over to me, throwing a punch at me. Unfortunately for him, he missed as I moved my head to the side. What I didn't see was the kick he also aimed for my stomach. He sure didn't miss with that. I felt the air get knocked out of me when his leg made a harsh contact with my stomach._

_My arms gripped my stomach from the pain and I fell to the ground; I didn't give up, no. Still in pain, I kicked his feet, making him fall onto the ground with a loud thud. He had dropped the box when he fell, but it tumbled out of our reach near the bed. He scrambled off the floor and tired to get to the box._

_But I wasn't going to let him go. I got up from my spot on the ground and pushed him back onto the floor, straddling him. He looked up at me, wide eyed before I drew my arm back and landed another punch on his face. I felt and heard something crack, either it being my fist, or his nose. I didn't feel any pain in my hand, so it was defiantly his nose.  
_

_He let out a scream of pain, and grabbed his face with both of his hands. This distraction of his pain gave me an opportunity to get off him and grab the box. Just as I was about to reach it, he grabbed my ankle and tugged hard, forcing my to fall on the floor. I turned so my back was on the floor and I looked at him._

_Blood was clearly coming out of his nose, and still a little was coming out from the cut on his lip. I snapped my head up to see the box was just an inch out of reach. I stretched my arm as far as it can go, and I touched the corner of the box with my fingertips. But that didn't want for long since Koji pulled at my ankle, making the box completely out of my reach._

_I thrashed my leg in his had, hoping to get out of his grasp. It didn't work though. He grabbed my other leg and pulled me towards him, feeling the carpet burn on my back as I was harshly dragged across it. With my ankle still in his hand, he took it, and sharply twisted it._

_A shooting pain hit me, and the first natural thing for me to do was to grab it. Bad idea. As soon as I sat up to grab my ankle, he landed a punch to my cheek, making me fall back onto the ground with a loud thud. Still a little dizzy at the punch he gave me, I felt him saddle my waist. I looked up to see him, arm drawn back into the air, ready to strike me._

_I put my arms in front of my face, just in time to block one of his punches. Then, to my surprise, he hit me in my stomach, knocking the air out of me once again. I growled, then rolled over, so I was straddling him. I just went at him, hitting him, punch after punch, not hesitating at all._

_He kicked me off him, and I fell off him, rolling into the dresser next to me, hearing a few things on top of it shake. I reached my hand up to my head in pain since it hit the dresser. I shook my head, and opened my eyes._

_I thought I'd see him getting ready to punch me again, but I didn't. My eyes scanned the room; The box was gone and so was Koji. "Shit." I muttered, getting off the floor quickly as possible, and running out my room. I saw him turn the corner down the hall, and then I ran after him. Sprinting to catch up to him._

_Just as he was about to make it down the stairs, I ran into him, shoving him up against the wall full force. He let out a 'oomph' when his back hit the wall, causing some pictures to fall off and hit the floor, breaking. The box dropped once again, but this time it went down the stairs, landing loudly at the bottom. _

_We both looked at it, then snapped back to reality. He shoved me off him with a hard push, sending me into the wall. A few more pictures fell around me, crashing and sending pieced of glass everywhere. He hurriedly made his way down the stairs, while I pushed myself off the ground, chasing after him._

_He was two steps from the ground floor, before I raised my leg and kicked him in the back, sending him flying into the ground. He didn't move for a few seconds; I thought he got knocked out. Breathing heavily, I walked down the next three steps and stopped next to my box, picking it up and holding it._

_"Ugh." He groaned out, squirming on the floor. I snapped my head to look at him, pulling the box closer to me. "Goddamn it;" He got up, stumbling a bit then looked over at me. "Enough with this shit." He walked over to me, reaching his hand into his hoodie pocket._

_I took a step back with every step he took towards me. Probably not such a good idea, considering I backed into a corner. He pulled his hand out of the pocket, and then flicked out a shiny blade from the pocket knife he was holding._

_Just looking at that made my breath hitch in my throat, and feel a little sick inside. I'm going to die. I'm really going to die. He walked over to me, blade still in hand. I looked around for something, anything! Just to throw at him or something. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a vase. _

_Without any hesitation, I darted over to the vase, dropping the box in my hand as I did. Koji ran after me, only a few steps away from me. I reached over to the vase, grabbed it with both hands and turned to Koji._

_Just as I turned back around, vase above my head ready to throw at him, it happened._

_He stabbed me; right in the my chest. I froze in my spot, suddenly not able to move. Nothing was heard except my harsh breathing. Koji was looking into my eyes, no regret, no anger, no emotion what so ever. Nothing. _

_The vase fell out of my hands, and hit the floor, shattering into a hundred pieces and scattering all over the floor. He then smirked, and dragged the blade across my chest, slowly. I let out an agonizing scream, before he took out the blade. My hands instantly went to the wound on my chest. My hands were covered in blood, and I fell to the ground on my knees, staring at the floor.__I felt like there was no energy left, and I fell completely on floor on my side. _

_Koji bent down to look at my now pale face. "Bye Riku." He said, a sadistic smile on his face. With that, he got up and walked over to the box, picked it up and left. I was all alone, nothing but the feeling of helplessness. This was how I was going to die. Nothing else was clouding my thoughts except for the fact that this was my last day._

_With a shaky hand, I reached into my pocket and fumbled around,getting out my phone. My vision was starting to get blurry, as I dialed the number into the phone, placing it to me ear._

_"Hello?"_

_"Axel.." I chocked out. "H-help me..." _

_"Riku? Are you alright?" _

_"Help m-me." I repeated in a voice just above a whisper, letting the phone drop beside me. I laid there, staring at the phone and clutching at my chest. My vision started to fade away, before everything turned black.  
_

_***_

My eyes shot open as I jolted up in my bed. I was breathing heavily,feeling my chest rise up and down quickly with every short strained breath I took. My eyes scanned the room I was in. Furniture, windows, picture frames, clothes on the floor, a door. It's only my room, I was just in my room; Safe in my bed. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath in and letting it out slowly, trying to calm my nerves. My eyes opened, and I brought my hand to my hair, moving extra strands away from my face.

'_Why am I having all these dreams now?' _I thought to myself. I've been fine for the past few years, and thought they finally stopped. Then recently, they came back; I've been having them almost every night, each one so vivid and real, like it was happening again. I gently touched the scar on the side of my chest, flinching a little when I felt it.

I let my hand drop onto the mattress as I moved to lay down, my back hitting the mattress as I did. I looked up at the ceiling, my mind fogged by my thoughts on the dream. A few months before that day, Axel finally turned eighteen. Since he wasn't with a family at that time, foster care kicked him out into the cold unforgiving world.

He actually did pretty well for himself, considering he started out with, nothing. He found himself a job, and ended up renting a place of his own; With the help of his friends of course. Things were looking good for him; While I on the other hand, was still stuck with a family I didn't want to be with.

They weren't as bad as some of the other ones I lived with, but they came close. The father was never around, and when he was he would just, sit there lifeless as ever. Not much of a good role model at all. The mother, man was she a wreck. Always busy, tired, depressed, and would snap at the slightest thing. I think she was schizophrenic? Why on earth did they even want to take me in? I made absolutely no difference in their lives, except just another person to take out their anger on.

Axel knew how, unfit they were to actually have other people to take care of. At some point, he said that I should just move in with him. I didn't miss a heart beat with my answer. I was glad he offered, no, more than glad, ecstatic was a better word. He offered the whole moving out thing when I was seventeen.

I had to wait an entire year before I can legally move out, so I did. I spent that entire year, working and saving every penny I made. We talked about how we'd save a ton of money and move out of that god forsaken town we were stuck in. That's how we ended up here in Twilight Town. After I turned eighteen, I moved in with Axel, even without the money I saved. I had to spend another year working to save up enough money like I had before. Took us quite a long time, but we did it. We bought this house here and moved as soon as possible.

I still can't believe I trusted that son of a bitch Koji. I felt my fist tighten it's grip on the sheet, just from thinking about him. I hope he's lying in a ditch somewhere, rotting away for doing that to me. Bastard...

I should of listened to Axel and just stayed away from him. If I did, I wouldn't of had every single penny that I slaved an entire year saving, taken away from me. I wouldn't of landed myself into the hospital, with the possibility of dying from all the blood I lost. And I wouldn't have a scar, reminding me how much of an idiot I was for actually trusting him.

And to make it even better, the police never caught him. He's still out there somewhere; What if I just run into him again? What will he do?

I shook the thought from my head, not wanting to deal with it anymore. I just wanted sleep. Closing my eyes, I shifted to my side getting comfortable,and pulled the covers up to my face.

_Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock._

I frowned a bit at the sound of the clock on my nightstand. Why did people have to make clocks so...loud? They just need to be there for the time, not for the infernal ticking and tocking.

_Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock._

I groaned out loud before turning to face the clock. I grasped the little silver clock, and pulled out the drawer of my nightstand, throwing the it in there. I heard a loud 'ding' when my clock hit something else in the drawer. I laid back on my mattress, and tried falling asleep again.

....

_Tick-Tock. Tick-Tock._

.....

It's official, I hate clocks. The damn ticking didn't let me fall back asleep at all. So after staying in bed for a few more minutes, I finally decided to get up and move on with my day. I took the wrinkled up plain white sheets in my hands, then threw them off me. The bed make a quite but long creaking sound when I moved to sit on the edge of the bed, and I let my feet dangle over the bed's edge. A shiver made it's way through my body when I got off the bed, the cold air of the house hitting my senses.

I rubbed my arms in an up and down motion to make some friction and maybe even heat. I pushed the door open, and closed it behind me by kicking it lightly with my foot. My feet shifted along the carpeted floor as I made my way to the top of the stairs, slowly taking one step at a time, still tired from just waking up.

Just when I went to turn into the kitchen, something caught my eye. Wrong- Someone, caught my eye. It was Axel, sprawled out on the floor, mouth opened, and drooling a little bit. My face scrunched up in, some disgust, then I turned around to get some water that I so desperately wanted. I walked up to the cabinet above me, and opened it, reaching in to get a small glass and filling it with water.

The cabinet made a loud 'thud' noise when I closed it, making me flinch and shut my eyes. I had one of the worlds worst headaches right about now, and man I didn't like it. '_Advil' _I thought to myself. _'I NEED Advil.'_ I opened my eyes and looked around for some, then found the tiny bottle on top of the microwave.

My hand reached out to grab it, and I popped the cap off, taking one pill out and swallowing it with some water. I walked back to the stair case to go to my room to get more clothes since it was freezing, but once again, I stopped in mid-step. Axel was still sleeping on the floor.

Then, an idea hit me. A small mischievous grin made its way onto my face. I walked over to him and stopped right next to him. I took the glass in my hand, and tipped it over,letting all the ice cold water spill onto Axel.

As soon as the ice cold water hit him, he started to squirm around on the floor and made little sounds of panic. "What the hell?" He said, coughing between each word. He then brought his head off the floor, and shook his head, letting water spray out from his now wet hair.

"Good morning fucktard."I said, smiling at what I just did.

He looked up at me, blinked a few times, then glared at me. "Your a complete asshole, I though I was drowning or something!" He yelled, bright sea foam green eyes still narrowed at me. The shuffle of clothes were was I heard when he sat up on the floor, not laying down anymore.

I smirked at his words. "I know I am." I replied, fully knowing how much of an ass I can be at times. And still, I'm fine with that; Though what still makes me wonder is why people deal with me. Oh well, it's their loss really.

He looked down at the floor, groaning out in pain. "Ugh, my head.." His hands went up to grip his head. "It fucking kills." He said, shutting his eyes tightly, trying not to get any light through.

I moved to sit down in front of him. "Well I'm not surprised, your drank enough for three people." I said, playing with the rim of my glass.

He looked up at me, opening his eyes. "Did I really?" He asked, face painted with a pained, yet curious expression.

"Oh yes." I stated, thoughts from last night clouding my head. "Your really interesting but such an annoying drunk." I said, putting down the glass near my leg and then leaning back a little, putting my arms behind me to steady my weight.

"I didn't do anything too stupid, did I?" He asked me, pale hands still clutching at his head.

I scrunched up my face in concentration, thinking about last night. "Nothing _too _stupid." I said, shifting to push myself off the floor and stand up. I brushed off any dust on my pants before offering a hand to Axel. "Get up; I'll get you some Advil."

He grasped my hand, and then I pulled him up, making him fall slightly into me, but then he balanced himself. "Thanks.." He muttered out, walking towards the kitchen with me.

We made our way to the kitchen, and he sat down in the dark brown chair, and laid his head onto the table, letting out a noise of pain. You think he'd learn _not_ to drink himself into a coma every time he goes out, but he does it anyways. Poor guy. I got another glass of water with some Advil, and walked over to the table. I pulled out the chair next to him and sat down.

"Here." I handed him the water and Advil. "Take it. You need it bad."

He opened his eyes and then brought his head slowly off the table, breathing in deeply. He greedily took the contents from my hands and then took the pill, drinking some water after. He let out a drawn out 'Ah' when he finished sipping the water, and then set the glass down in front of him.

"You know what I need?" He asked, eyes focusing on the glass in his hands. "Pancakes and coffee. Worlds best hangover food." He finished, smiling a little.

I snorted out a laugh, then placed my elbow on the table, resting my head against me hand. "It never helps me." I argued with him, looking at him fumbling with the glass.

He rolled his bright green eyes, then turned to face me. "That's because you're weird Riku." Then he turned his attention back to the glass, smirking a little.

"I'm weird?" I asked, repeating his words. "Your weirder than me." I said, jokingly of course.

"Yeah yeah," He unbuttoned the top white button of his shirt. "Whatever helps you sleep at night."

I frowned a little; Sleep. Dreams. Koji...

A few seconds of silence passed between us. Then he looked over at me, and scrunched up his face. Probably noticed that something was wrong. "You knew that I was joking. I never really meant that you're-"

"I had a dream about him." I said, interrupting him, not looking at him.

Confusion was clearly featured on his face. He blinked a few times before he spoke up. "Who?" He asked quietly, furrowing his red eye brows.

My eyes were focused on the table in front of me. Nothing else. "Koji." I said, lowering my head, letting my silver bangs fall in front of my face.

Axel bit his lip and looked away, knowing what happened between him and I. "Look, don't think about him. He's not worth it." He said, touching my arm lightly.

My arm twitched a little when his cold hand touched me. "I can't help it Axel." I said, narrowing my eyes. "He's always going to be in my head. Everyone that screwed me over is..." I drifted off.

His face saddened. "I know I probably can't really say anything to make everything all peaches and cream," He said, making me let out a short quiet laugh. "But everyone of those bastards are complete, assholes. And they just wanted to take advantage of an awesome guy like you."

I rolled my eyes at his comment. "Jeez. You really know what to say." I said, sarcastically.

"I'm serious!" He yelled, then paused, wincing at his own yelling. "They're all assholes. Every single one of them."

A small smile made it's way onto my face. "Thanks." I said, turning my head to face him.

He grinned back at me. "No problem." He responded.

"Morning losers."

Our heads snapped into the direction of the voice which happened to belong to Cloud. He walked into the kitchen wearing nothing but his boxers and the shirt from last night.

"Whoa," Axel blinked a few times. "Riku!" He looked over at me, eyes wide open. "What did you do to my Advil!"

I furrowed my eye brows. "Nothing.." I said, confused at what he was trying to say.

"Then why do I see Cloud!?" He asked.

I sighed. Sometimes Axel can be so stupid. "He slept over last night. Remember?"

"I don't think he does," Cloud said, walking over to us. "He passed out on the floor before you said I could stay here." He pulled out another chair and sat down with us at the table.

"Oh.." Axel laughed sheepishly. "Well I feel like an idiot." He said, bringing his hand to scratch his temple.

Cloud let out a laugh, then a short yawn, bringing his arms above his head to stretch. "By the way," He let his arms drop and rest on the table. "Thanks again for letting me crash here."

"It's no big deal." I said, looking up at him. "Besides. It's not like you could of driven home last night anyways." I added as an afterthought.

Cloud smirked at me. "Yeah, that wouldn't of ended so well." He said, letting his mind wonder on what would happen if he _did _drive home last night.

Axel looked at his wrist, frowning when he didn't see his favorite watch on it. "Riku." He said, looking at me. "What time is it?" He asked.

"Um..." I looked around the room till I found a clock, which happened to be right behind me. "It is 11:28." I said, reading off the time then turning back around in my seat.

Axel made a face of disgust. "Is it really?" He asked, leaning in to me.

I backed away from him. "Yeah. Clocks don't lie." I said in a monotone voice.

He slumped against his chair, looking straight a head of him,which happened to be right outside the sliding door. "I've never slept in this late before." He said. "God I feel like a bum. I just wasted half my day away."

"Hey," Cloud started, folding his arms over his chest and leaning back in his chair. "There's a first time for everything."

"I guess.." Axel said, still looking at the falling snow outside. "But I-"

Axel was interrupted by some kind of noise. It sounded like it came from Cloud's, stomach? We both looked over at Cloud, to see that his arms went across his stomach, and he had a light pink blush on his cheeks.

"Sorry," He smiled sheepishly. "Guess I'm hungry." He said laughing at himself.

"That's an understatement." I piped in. "I swear I heard it echo through out the room." I added as an after thought.

Axel snorted out a laugh. "Yeah. Sounds like you haven't fed that monster you call a stomach in days." He said, kind of exaggerating on how loud it really was.

Cloud's blush got a little darker. "How about you feed me then?" He suggested to us.

"Well, I did want those pancakes and coffee." Axel said, drifting off, thinking about eating his special 'hangover food'.

I felt my stomach grumble a bit, then brought my hand on it. "So it's settled." I said, bringing their attention towards me. "We're going out for food." They both looked at me, grinning.

Axel smiled, along with Cloud. "Awesome." They said in unison. With that, we all got up and went our separate ways to get ready to leave.

*^*  
_Sora's P.O.V._

_Break it out, get it all out and start freakin' out-_

I breathed in deeply, and shifted in my spot, trying to go back to sleep.

_Just so we can make it out. Get off your feet and make this count-_

A frowned appeared on my face. There was that noise again. Still I chose to ignore whatever it was- Wait, was it singing?

_When I started this, I knew it was not just for this, Selfish pleasure of my own-_

My bright blue eyes snapped open to see that my phone was going off. No wonder I heard singing...I got up and picked up the phone with my hand. Flipping it open, and not bothering to see who was calling, I placed it to my ear.

"Hello?" I asked, my voice a little faint from just waking up.

_"Hey Sora, it's Leon."_

I straightened up in my spot and brought a hand up to my eye, rubbing away the sleep. "Hey Leon.." I said, yawning into the phone.

_"I didn't wake you up did I?" _He asked.

"You did, but it's okay. I needed to get up anyways." I said, laying back down and closing my eyes. So much for getting up...

_"Oh, well I was just calling to remind you that I'm coming over soon."_

My eyes brows furrowed as a response. "What time is it?" I asked him, still not making any effort to get up off...whatever I was laying on.

_"It's almost 11:40."_

Crap. He was coming over at noon. And I'm still barely awake. Come on Sora. Get up and start the day. "Oh, wow." I said, into the phone, pushing my self up. "I need to get ready then."

_He laughed a little. "Glad I called to remind you."_

I laughed back. "Yeah, me to. So I'll see you soon."

_"Yeah, soon. Bye Sora."_

"Bye."

I snapped the phone shut with my hand, and dropped it on the floor, not really caring where it landed. Then I realized something. I wasn't in my room. My eyes scanned where I was. In the living room, down stairs....on the couch. The TV was still on; Hmm, I probably fell asleep watching it.

I pushed my self off the couch, standing up and stretching my arms and hands above my head, then letting them drop at my sides. '_I better go wake up Roxas..' _I thought to myself. But that thought went away when I heard noise come from the kitchen. So instead of walking up stairs to see if he was there, I went to check the kitchen.

Sure enough, he was there, standing next to the sink, washing dishes. I don't think he noticed me, considering he didn't say hi. Or maybe he's just ignoring me...

The sound of light footsteps could be heard when I walked towards him, stopping right next to him. "Morning Roxas." I said.

He flinched a little, then looked over at me, a dish in his hand. "Oh.." He breathed out. "I didn't see you there."

I smiled a little. "That's because I was invisible for a while."

He rolled his eyes at me. "Your an idiot." He said, then went back to washing the dishes.

My shoulders shrugged. "I know." I said, jumping so I can sit on the counter next to him. I paused before I remembered the reason why I came to look for him. "By the way," He looked up at me. "Leon called. Said he's coming over in twenty minutes." I finished.

"Well, I'm all ready anyways." He said, looking back at the last dish he had to wash.

"Wow, the great Roxas ready before noon? I never though I'd see the day." I said, laughing a little.

He shut off the sink and put the last dish on the drying rack. "It's a once in a life time deal." He said, taking a towel to dry off his hands. "I could of slept longer, but I just felt very;" He stopped,thinking over his words. "fidgety."

"I see.." I drifted off. "I'd better get ready anyways. Don't want him to come here and wait for me." I said, sliding off the counter and landing on the floor.

"Wear a hoodie or something." Roxas said, looking at me. "It's gonna be cold."

"Yes mom." I said, walking away from him. I walked to the stair case, holding onto the railing as I went up each step. When I made it to the top of the stairs, I felt a breeze of cold air hit me and then a little shiver go through my body. The window was opened, for some strange reason. Letting in cold winter air into the house.

I closed it, hearing a loud 'thud' noise when I did, then kept on walking to my room. The door creaked when I pushed the door open, making it hit the wall behind it gently. "Eh..." I said out loud, looking at my room. It was kid of messy, considering I did just move in here.

Yet somehow I managed to still get clothes and boxes everywhere around the room. Sometimes even I amaze myself with my ability to be unorganized and messy. Roxas would have a field day if he actually saw what I managed to do to my room in the short span of a day.

Pfft, not everyone can be a clean freak like Roxas...

I walked over to the bathroom, and stood in front of the sink. My hand reached out to get my yellow tooth brush, and my other hand grabbed the tooth paste. I squirted enough toothpaste on my tooth brush and then brushed my teeth. After I was done with that, I turned around and turned on the shower.

The bathroom quickly filled up with steam, as I peeled off my clothes and stepped into the shower,and closed the shower curtains. The hot water hitting my skin, making me feel much more relaxed. I grabbed some shampoo and put it in my hand, then running it through my hair, making it lather up.

The smell of strawberries filled my senses as I washed out the soap from my hair, and turned off the shower, knowing if I didn't get out now, I probably would take forever. I pulled back the curtains and stepped out onto the mat next to the shower, grabbing the white towel that was hanging on the wall. I wrapped the towel around my waist and then turned to leave.

I opened the bathroom door, seeing the steam come out from the bathroom into my room. Another shiver went through my body as soon as I stepped outside the warm bathroom into my cold room. I sniffled, and walked over to my dresser to get some boxers.

Opening the drawer, I picked out the first pair of boxers I saw, and slipped them on, dropping my towel on the floor, and leaving it there. "Time for pants.." I said out loud to myself, walking over to the closet. "Jeans...jeans...where are some clean jeans.." I muttered, looking for a pair of pants.

"Found you." I picked up a pair of dark blue jeans, and the put them on, instantly feeling warmer. When I grabbed the pants, a yellow shirt fell on the floor in front of me. I blinked, then bent down to pick it up. It was clean, and not too wrinkly. So I decided to wear that.

I walked back to the bathroom to grab another towel to dry my hair, since it still was soaking wet. I dried my hair with the towel, then shook my head, letting all the spikes spring back up and into place on their own. I took the towel in my hands and hung it over the door to let it dry,doing the same with the one I dropped in my room earlier.

After hanging the towels, I made my way downstairs to see that Roxas was sitting on the couch watching TV. I don't think he noticed me until I sat down next to him.

He jumped as soon as I sat down, then he looked over to me. "Can you not pop up everywhere?" He said, glaring a little. "I swear, you give me more heart attacks than I should have."

"Your so over dramatic sometimes." I said, snatching the remote from Roxas' hand and changing the channel to my liking, earning another glare from him.

"I was watching something." He said to me.

I smiled back at him. "Now we're watching something else." I said, looking at him, then back at the TV.

He moved over a bit. "Give it back Sora!" He said, reaching for the remote that I held out of his reach.

"Nope." I said, sticking my tongue out at him, and still flipping through the channels until I stopped at something I like. "Ohh..." I said, leaning over to the TV. "Food network."

Roxas snorted out a laugh. "Of course you'd watch something with food- Oh, is he making cake?" He asked, now finally interested in the channel.

I huffed at him. "Now you want to watch it."

"You know me," He started, not taking his eyes off the screen. "I'm a sucker for cake."

That made me laugh a little. It was true; If you want to convince Roxas to do anything, just give him cake. We both sat there for a while, watching TV to pass time while waiting for Leon to come over. The ringing of the door bell caught both of our attentions.

"It's probably Leon." I said, getting up off the couch and walking over to the door. I looked out the glass window on the door to see that he was standing there. Seeing him, I unlocked the door, hearing a click, then swinging the door wide open. "Hey there." I said, grinning at him.

He turned around to look at me. "You guys ready?" He asked, looking at me then peering over my shoulder to look at Roxas.

"Yeah, just need to get a hoodie and some shoes." I said, walking away from the door to go and get my hoodie. "Come inside!" I shouted back at him.

He stepped inside, and shut the door behind him, stopping any more cold air from coming into the house.

I grabbed my hoodie off the couch that Roxas was still sitting on. "Roxas." I said, bringing his attention to me, well sort of..

He still had his eyes glued to the TV. "...Huh?" He asked, not even looking over at me.

"Leon's here. Get your stuff and let's go."

"....Uh-huh." He said, not making an effort to get up and leave. I sighed, and ran my hand through my hair, walking over to the TV and turning it off, hearing a sound of protest from Roxas. "Hey!" he yelled at me.

"Let's go." I repeated to him once more, then left the room, putting on my hoodie in the process. I walked over to Leon to see him still standing next to the door. "Sorry about that." I apologized.

He shrugged, looking like he didn't care. "I don't mind really." He said, looking at me put on my shoes.

Roxas then walked in, hoodie and shoes already on him. "Hey Leon." Roxas said, walking over to him.

Leon looked down at him, since he was about a foot taller then him,and...me. "Hi Roxas." He said. "So," He continued, looking back and forth between us. "You two hungry? Because I sure am."

"Well Sora is always hungry, since he's some sort of bottomless pit," Roxas said, making Leon chuckle. "And I am now thanks to watching that guy make cake." He added, holding his stomach.

"Great. I guess the first place I'll show you is this little restaurant a few miles away." He said, opening the door.

I finally finished putting on my shoes and stood up. "Awesome, I'm starving." I said, grabbing my wallet and putting it in my back pocket.

Leon walked out the door to his car, then Roxas grabbed the house keys following him. I walked after Roxas, and closed the door, making sure to lock it. We all got into his car, me sitting up in front of course. Since it was my favorite spot to sit. Leon then started his car, bringing the engine to life, backed out of our drive way, making sure not to hit any cars, and drove down the street.

*^*  
_Axel's P.O.V._

"Well that took longer than expected." I complained, pushing open the doors to IHOP and stepping inside. Cloud and Riku walked in right after me, stopping at the desk to wait for someone to come over and get us a table.

Cloud then leaned his back against the wall so he could face me. "It's not my fault that the main road suddenly went into construction." Cloud responded to my complaint.

"Besides," Riku chirped in. "At least your here." He said looking around the restaurant.

It was filled with people right and left, with only a few tables left open. Waitresses were walking around with menus in their hand, and bringing food to customers. The entire places smelled like food; Which was amazing. But didn't help the fact that I was hungry and only_ smelling_ the food; Not eating it.

We waited there for a few more minutes before one of the waitresses finally walked over to get us a table.

She walked up to the little desk, and glanced at us for a second, then pulled out three menus. "Hello, I'm Yuffie, and I'll be you're waitress this-"

I didn't let her finish; As soon as I heard 'Yuffie' I snapped my head up at her and grinned like there was no tomorrow. "Yuffie!" I exclaimed, causing a few people to look over my way.

She looked up from the menus she was fumbling with and gave me a weird look, but that was replaced a few seconds later when she smiled, eyes wide looking at me. "Axel! I didn't even notice it was you!" She said happily.

I huffed at her. "How could you not know it was me, I mean really-" I picked up a strand of red hair to show her. "I thought this would of given it away."

"Well I didn't really pay attention to the hair." She said smiling.

"What I don't get a hello?" Cloud piped in, waving at her from his spot leaning against the wall.

For the second time her eyes got wide again. "Cloud? Your here too? And is that- It is! Riku!" She yelled over to him; He gave a small wave and smile in response to her outburst. "Wow, this is like a little reunion!" She said looking at all of us, bright white smile on her face. "How have you guys been?" She asked us.

"Not too shabby, but it's more boring since you moved." I said, frowning a little.

The expression on her face sadden a bit. "I know, but I had to. That place was too damn expensive to live in by myself..." She drifted off, looking at the menus in her hand. Her head then snapped up with a smile on it. "How 'bout you two?" She asked, motioning her hands towards Cloud and Riku.

Cloud cross his arms over his chest and tilted his head to the side, thinking face and all. "Other than this horrible headache, It's good." He said, looking at her. "I'm still working at that auto shop too." He added as an afterthought.

"Ahh," Yuffie said, drawing out the word longer than needed. "I see. Still stuck at that old place. Shame; What about you Riku?" She asked, turning to focus her attention to him.

Riku shrugged his shoulders. "Same old stuff." He said shortly.

Yuffie smirked at his response. "You never were much of a talker."

I snorted out a laugh. "Not everyone can be as talkative, bubbly, and open like you are Yuffie." I said, recalling all the times her personality screamed 'I'm a loud person, love me!'.

She giggled for a second. "Well I better show you guys to your table. The boss has been starting at me for quite some time now.." She said, tilting her head in the direction behind her. Sure enough, there stood a guy, pushing old age, glaring at the back of her head. Creepy... "This way you guys!" She exclaimed, walking away from the front desk and around the restaurant.

We finally made it to an available seat in the back of the place, a booth right next to the window. "Here's your table;" She said, pointing to the table. "And here are the menus." She placed three blue menus on the table as well. "I'll be back soon to take your guy's order and stuff." She said, walking off to another table.

"I call window seat!" I said, moving so I could get the seat next to the window. Riku took the free seat next to me and Cloud sat right across from me, next to the window like me.

"Let's see what they have to eat in this place.." Cloud said, grabbing the nearest menu, flipping it open and reading it.

"I already know what I'm getting; Pancakes and coffee." I said, looking out the window at the falling snow.

Riku rolled his eyes. "That stuff doesn't work!" He huffed.

I snapped my head to face him. "Yes! It does, you just haven't had the right amount for it to work!" I said, defending my miracle hangover food.

"Oh, so now there's an amount you need?" He asked, obviously not believing me.

I smiled. "Yes."

He glared at me for a second, then laughed, smiling for what seemed like the first time today. "Fine; You win." He said, grabbing a menu off the table and reading all the choices they had to offer.

"Hey you guys.." Cloud said, still looking at his menu. "Should I get waffles or;" He paused, reading over something else on the menu. "Bagels?"

"Hmm.." I said out loud, bringing my hand up to my chin and stroking it, like those people did on the old movies. "I'd go for-"

"Waffles." Riku said, interrupting me.

I looked over at Riku. "Hey! I was going to answer thank you very much." I huffed out.

"You took too long. "He said with a smirk, looking at nothing but the menu he held in his hands.

I was going to say something back, but Yuffie finally came back to our table. "Alright you guys, you know what your going to get?" She asked, pen in hand,ready to write down our orders.

"I'll get pancakes and coffee, black." I said, smiling at her.

She scribbled down my order on the notepad. "Pancakes, coffee;Black. Cloud?"

He looked over his menu on last time, then up at her. "I'll get the waffles with the eggs and bacon please."

"Alright," She wrote down his order. "Riku?"

"I'll have blueberry pancakes with fruit." He said, scanning the menu one more time. "And coffee please." He added.

Yuffie wrote down his order then put away the pen and smiled. "It'll be out soon you guys." She said, walking away to the front to get seats for other people.

"Hypocrite." I muttered out, narrowing my eyes jokingly at Riku.

He rose one silver eye brow and looked at me, slightly confused. "What?" He asked.

"Oh you know," I leaned in towards him. "'Mr. Pancakes and coffee don't help, so I'll just get it anyways'." I said, putting quotes around the sentence.

He smirked. "I don't have a hangover; I just really wanted some because you kept on talking about it."

"Gah..." I leaned against the seat with my back. "Just you wait Riku;" I crossed my arms over my chest. "I'll get you to admit that they work. Some day." I said, tilting my head to the side to see him better, making some hair fall in my face.

"Congratulations with the new life goal."

Cloud just sat there, staring at us for a while. "How are you guys even friends?" He asked, earning blinks and confused looks as a response from Riku and I. "I mean, you two bicker like an old married couple. How do you stand each other?" He asked, placing an elbow on the table and resting his head on his hand.

Riku and I laughed at his 'observation'. "We don't fight all the time." Riku said while I picked up a sugar packet from the table. "We're both just very stubborn." I ripped the sugar packet and ate some, dropping the now empty packet one the table.

"Besides, we've learned to deal with each others stubbornness." I said, wiping off and sugar left from my face. "Isn't that right Riku?"

"Oh so right." He said in a monotone voice, unzipping his hoodie and taking it off; Folding it and placing it right next to him. I looked at what he was wearing; It was nice, defiantly something I would pick out. Maybe my sense of style was finally rubbing off on- wait a second...

"Is that my shirt?" I asked, reaching over to tug at the shirt to get a better look at it. "It is! It's mine!"

Riku looked down at the shirt then back at me. "Yeah. I was wondering when you'd notice."

I let go of his - _my - _shirt. "Well I noticed now." I said, thinking of how I didn't see it sooner. Curse my horrible observation skills.

Cloud laughed. "Took you long enough. Even I noticed before you." He said, picking up a fork and tapping it against the table. "Man I can't wait for the both of you to get old. It'll be so amusing watching you two bitch at each other with canes and walkers. " He laughed at the image he got in his head.

I cringed. "You make it seem like getting old is so much fun."

He laughed more. "It's a gift I guess." He said, looking over to his left at all the people in the restaurant. He was Yuffie walk past us with people following behind her. Cloud the narrowed his eyes. "Hey!" He shouted to the people following Yuffie, causing them to stop. "Don't I know you?" He asked, pointing to a brunette.

Said brunette looked at him for a second then smiled. "Yeah!" He said, walking over to our table. "Your the guy who said my car was broken. Cloud right?" He asked him, now standing next to our table.

Cloud nodded his head, making his spiky hair shake. "Yup. And your Sora right?" He asked, not really sure of his name.

The 'Sora' person smiled. "Bingo." He said. He then turned to see Riku and then got a surprised look on his face. "You! Your the one that fixed my car."

Riku gazed up at him,blinking a few time then answered; "Yeah. Small world.." He said, not taking his eyes off him.

I finally butted in the conversation. "Why does everyone know everybody but me?" I complained, putting myself into the conversation, getting stares from everybody.

"Sorry," Sora said looking over at me. "I'm Sora, and this," He stepped back, grabbing the blonde guy that was behind him. "Is my brother Roxas,and this is my....oh." He turned around to see that the other guy he was with had left with Yuffie to go get his table. "Never mind." Sora said, looking back at us.

That's when I got a good look at, Roxas. He was really short. Probably a foot shorter than me. He had short spiky blonde hair that pointed out in different directions. Crystal clear blue eyes, and had the faintest tan. '_Looks like I finally found someone I like.' _I thought to myself.

Then I glanced at the both of them. They looked alike basically, except for the hair. Still, I could help but blurt out my stupid question. "So you guys are twins?" I asked, pointing to the both of them.

Riku snorted out a laugh. "Jeez Axel what gave that away? The fact that they look alike?"

I rose my hands in a defensive manner. "I was just curious damn it..." I said looking at Riku. "So how do you guys know each other?" I asked.

"Well," Cloud started, bringing my attention to him. "I know him because he came to the shop yesterday, and Riku over there knows Sora because he worked on his car." Cloud said, then looked over at Roxas. "But I still haven't met your brother; Other than right now." He added as an afterthought.

Sora laughed a little,shoving his hands in his pocket. "Well you would have if he actually went to the shop with me like I asked." Sora said, glancing over at Roxas.

Roxas shrugged his shoulders, face painted with a bored expression. "I didn't want to go.." He said, staring off into space. "Besides, I stayed to unpacked. Unlike you." He added, glaring at Sora a little. Sora just laughed sheepishly, a blush forming on his face.

Then I realized something. Unpacked. "Wait, are you the people that just moved in on our street?" I asked, now really curious at the two new people.

Sora looked at me, blinking a few times. "Depends; You live on Alloway road?" He asked, shifting a few times in his spot.

_'Yes, Cute blonde lives on my street!' _I grinned. "Yes I do, along with Riku of course." I said, poking Riku in the shoulder. Riku lifted up his hand and smacked my finger away from his shoulder.

Sora rose an eye brow and looked over at Riku. "You live there to?" He asked him.

Riku nodded, then looked up at him, nodding his head. "I live with Axel."

That when I noticed that Riku had the faintest color of pink on his cheeks. And then it hit me, Riku fancies Sora. I smiled mischievously, thinking of a few ways to get them together. Of course the perfect and simplest idea came to my mind.

"How about you two come over our house sometime?" I asked, making Riku snap his head towards me, eyes a little wider than normal. "Just so we get to know our neighbors better." I added, smiling them, trying to be as friendly as possible, and not seem like some creep they just met who invited them to his house.

Roxas didn't look to interested,considering he was still staring off into space. But Sora on the other hand sure did. "That sounds good,you don't mind?" He asked me.

I leaned back against the seat. "Not at all, come over any time you want." I said. "I mean, our place is only 2 houses away."

"Oh, you live in the house with the green windows?" Sora asked, tilting his head a bit.

I nodded, making my hair move in front of my face. "Yup, that's the house; Got it memorized?" I asked, using my infamous quote.

Sora smiled. "Yeah, I think I do." He said.

Roxas turned around and then looked back at Sora, grabbing his arm. "Leon's been waiting for a while." He said, pulling him away from our table.

A look of realization appeared on Sora's face. "Oh, crap. I forgot." He said, then turning over to us. "I'll see you guys when ever I guess." He said, waving while being pulled away by Roxas. As soon as they were out of ear shot, Riku turned over ad glared at me.

"What was that?" He asked me.

I looked at him for a second, bilking a few times. "What..." I repeated, not really sure why he looked upset,or mad...or whatever.

He huffed. "Inviting strangers over. The could be serial killers for all we know!"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Stop it. They looked friendly, besides. I didn't get any 'vibes' from them." I said, placing my elbow on the table and resting my head against my hand.

He bit his lip, looking the table. "Fine." He said, defeated. "But if I die, it's all your fault." He warned me.

"No ones going to die Riku." Cloud said, looking out the window.

I picked up the fork next to me. "Exactly,now lighten up. I'll be there to save you if you need it." I said sarcastically, pointing at him with the fork I had in my hands. Then I smelled something delicious; I closed my eyes to breathe in the sent, and opened them to see Yuffie walking over to us with our food. "Awesome; Food's here." I said, my mouth watering.

"Here you go you guys." Yuffie said, walking up to our table and placing our food in front of us.

"Thanks Yuffie." Cloud said smiling at her and then picking up his fork to use on his food.

"No problem. Enjoy." She said, walking off to tend to the other customers.

When she walked away, I turned over to Riku. "There's another reason why I wanted them to come over." I said, cutting my pancakes into smaller pieces. He glanced over at me, and waited for me to finish. "I think the blonde one is cute." I said.

Riku rolled his eyes, along with Cloud. "Typical..." Riku said, eating a piece of fruit.

"And, I know you have your eye on that Sora kid." I whispered, juts loud enough for Riku to hear. Apparently he did, because he chocked on his fruit for a second, coughing until whatever was preventing him from breathing to be gone. He looked over at me, eyes watering since he just chocked on something and mouthed 'how'.

I smiled, looking back at my pancakes, cutting them up and taking a bite. "I know these things." I said.

*^*  
_Sora's P.O.V._

"I am _exhausted."_ I shouted once Roxas and I walked into the house. We literally spent the entire day driving and walking around with Leon, while he showed us around town. When he said show, he really meant show ever little detail about this tow. But hey, now I know that I'll never get lost in this place anymore.

....

Okay, scratch that. I'll still manage to get lost somehow. It _is_ me; I'll find a way.

"Ugh.." I groaned out, kicking off my shoes and peeling off my hoodie, suddenly feeling a bit warmer than I did before. I shifted my feet against the floor, barely making an effort to fully lift them up and walk normally.I made it over to the couch and plopped myself on it, seeing a little bit of dust go into the air. "So tired.." I complained.

Roxas closed the door and dropped all of his stuff onto the floor next to mine and walked into the living room where I was. He stopped, and looked at me; Sprawled out on the couch with my arm over my eyes. "You need to be more active if_ that _tired you out." He said, walking over to the couch across from me, picking up the remote and taking a seat on the chair.

I moved my arm away from my face and turned my head to look over at him. "I'm active!" I argued, defending my, way of life.

The TV clicked on, and he snorted out a laugh. "The only thing you do, is eat" He said, flipping through the channels, looking for something interesting to watch.

By then I fully got up from the couch, now sitting on it, no longer laying on it. "Was that a fat joke?" I asked, pressing this conversation further.

"Oh no. Not at all." He said, sarcasm dripping from every word.

I huffed, and crossed my arms over my chest. "Well I'm not fat." I said. He didn't say anything back; Just sat there flipping through more channels. "I just have a healthy appetite." I added as an after thought.

That got his attention. He looked over at me with a expression that I've grown too familiar to. "Healthy?" He asked, setting down the remote next to him. "You think it's healthy..." He repeated once again. "Any stranger that would see you eat, probably thought you were some starving child from a third world country."

"I resent that..."

"It's true!" He continued. "This afternoon for example; You ordered and ate your own food, then ate most of mine...and then ordered more food right after." He said, looking at me. "Then an hour later you were hungry! Sometimes it amazes me.." He drifted off, picking up the remote and changing the channel again.

A blush came onto my face after hearing what he said. "Wow.." I said, scratching my head. "I didn't even notice it was that bad..."

"Hm." Was all I got from Roxas, as he finally found a channel worth watching. We sat there in silence for a few minutes , watching was seemed to be Crime Scene Investigation. Or was it Law and Order. Either way, they have the same crime thing going for them.

I finally decided to speak up,breaking the silence that was getting too awkward for me. "Are you going over their house?" I asked.

Roxas turned over and looked his shoulder at me, his eyebrows furrowed a little. "Who's house..." He asked, voice painted with curiosity.

A yawn escaped my lips and I closed my eyes, stretching on the couch. "Riku's and Axel's." I answered.

"No." He said shortly and turned his attention back over to the TV.

Here it comes. This is where I have to whine and bug him until he breaks and gives in. "Why not!" I whined loudly, making him cringe in his chair.

"Because," His eyes were still glued to the TV. "I don't want to." He said, sternly obviously not wanting to go to their house.

I rolled my eyes at him. He was probably just being lazy again. "Come on! They seemed nice!" I argued, trying to change his mind and go out with me to meet some new people. It's not good being cooped up in the house all the time! Oh god..I'm starting to sound like my mom..

There was a few seconds of silence. I thought he was ignoring me until he finally spoke up. "That guy with the red hair kept looking at me..." He said, moving in his chair to get more comfortable.

I blinked a few times, then shook my head. "Well, he was talking to you. It's not like he could stare at the floor and-"

"Not like that you dunce!" He said, interrupting me. "I felt like he was undressing me with his eyes." He said, shivering in his spot.

I laughed at that. "No he wasn't. Your just being paranoid." I said, laughing more at his 'reason' for not going.

"I'm not being paranoid." He said, dropping the remote on the floor after making the volume louder on the TV. "I'm not going and it's final." He said.

I bit my lip,my gaze shifted to the floor while I thought of anything to say that will make him- I got it. A sly smile crept on my face. "If you go with me, I'll give you cake." I said, persuading him with cake.

He stopped moving around in his chair. A few moments passed, nothing was heard besides the TV and the clock in the living room next to me. He turned around so he was completely facing me. "Really?" He asked, looking straight at me.

'_Got him..'_ I thought to myself as I smiled. "Of course."

His gaze didn't leave mine for a second, before he finially answered; "Fine. But it better be an awesome cake." He said, turning back over to the TV.

I grinned,knowing that I've won him over. "It will be Roxas, don't worry." I said, leaning back into the couch and watching the TV show.

_'Thank god for cake._'I thought.

* * *

**A/N: **I couldn't help myself with Axel's little saying Xp I _had_ to put it in once lol. And again, sorry for taking forever. Hope you liked it :]


	5. Chapter 5

**"Can You Help Me?  
**

**Description: **Sora has always been a kind person; Giving help to anyone that needed it. Riku has had a troubled life, and in turn, shuts anyone out that tries to help him. Can Sora be the one to help Riku not be so cold and distant? [RikuxSora] [AkuRoku]

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Never have, never will...*sigh* Anyways! This, my lovely readers, is **MY** story. The plot and what not was **MY** idea. Take anything from it, and you will regret it. Chapter starts in Riku's POV

**Rating/Warning:** Mature - Language

**A/N: **Ugh, took longer than I wanted to; Again. But oh well, can't really help it. Cross Country and last minute AP summer work took up so much time. But to make up for the wait, I made it extra long :] Scroll, read, enjoy! And of course, Review :]

Also, thanks for everyone that the reviewed and put this story on their favorites/alerts :D

* * *

**.::Chapter Five::.**

_'Oh. My. God.'_ I thought to myself when my eyes actually saw what was in front of me. The house was a mess! How could I not have realized this before? I mean, I probably am one of the worst clean freaks on the planet, and I let _this_ slide? It's all Axel's fault. He never bothers to keep anything clean. Just look at his room; Worst and messiest room I've seen, and I'm not even exaggerating.

I started walking and finally made my way passed the 'clutter' of the house and went over to the living room where Axel was sitting; More like sprawled over the couch, watching TV. My eye twitched, just the slightest when I saw even more of a mess in the living room. Papers, magazines, the occasional shirt here and there, and dishes. Ugh. "Doesn't it bother you?" I blurted out, still staring at the mess around me.

Axel tilted his head back to look at me. "Huh?" He asked, confusion written on his face.

I took a few steps, trying to get in front of him through all the clutter that was blocking my way. "The mess," I said, taking another step and stumbling a little. "How doesn't it bother you?" I asked him.

He shrugged his pale bony shoulders then turned his gaze and attention back to the TV that I was blocking a little. "Not everyone has a horrible case of OCD like you do Riku." He said after flipping through a few channels.

'_It's not that bad...' _I argued with his opinion in my head and crossed my arms over my chest. "Still," I said, taking a few steps towards him, then sat down on the edge of the coach. "It's not good to live in _this."_ I said, motioning my hand around the room to emphasize the fact that it really isn't good to live like this.

He looked over at me. "And living in something that resembles a museum is better?" He asked, letting go of the remote and letting it drop onto the floor.

"Of course it's much better." I said, leaning back so I was resting on the couch. "You knows where everything is, and you won't kill yourself trying to walk through all the mess." I continued.

Axel let out a little laugh. "Nice was of defending that..." He said, not bothering to look at me. "But just to let you know," He stretched his arms above his head and then let out a yawn. "I can find everything fine; Even in this mess." He said, putting air quote around the word 'mess'.

My eyebrow rose. "Really?" I asked him. He just nodded in response. "Well then; Where's your phone?" I asked him, knowing that he _always_ has the habit of losing it.

He glanced over at me then smirk, moving his hand towards his hoodie pocket. "It's right here-" He patted down his pocket. "Shit..." He muttered before sitting up on the couch checking all of his pockets. He bit his lip then glanced up at me. "It's...not here..." He said, pointing to his pocket.

"I know." I said, shifting in my seat so I was on the edge of the couch. "It's right here." I picked up a shirt that was near my foot, and sure enough, there was his phone.

"Well thanks for finding it Houdini, now can you hand it over to me?" He asked, putting put his arm with his palm facing the ceiling.

I dropped the shirt that I picked up from the floor then bent down to grab his phone. "Here," I said, tossing it to him. He caught it no problem.

"Thanks." He muttered out quickly before flipping open his phone. "Wow, I feel loved. Five new texts and six missed calls." He said, now reading all the new texts he got.

"Well aren't you popular-"

My stomach growling cut me off, making me wrap my arms around my waist. Not sure why, it doesn't even help. But everyone still does that when their stomach decides to greet everyone around them. I saw Axel glance at me then smirk.

"Sounds like someone is hungry." He said, stating the already obvious fact.

"I am." I said shortly, then standing up and making my way over the occasional mess here and there on the floor and walking over to the kitchen. My stomach grumbled again, and I tightened my grip around my waist. You know that horrible hunger pain you get when you really want- no -_need_, something to eat? Everyone knows that nasty feeling. I've grown to hate it so much. I finally walked over to the fridge and opened it.

....Well shit.

There's nothing; No food at all.

That's not even an exaggeration. We literally have no food in this house. Ugh. This never happens considering the appetite Axel has. With him around, the house is always stacked with food, so I never have to even worry about it. One of the perks of living with a human that eats like a black hole.

I thought, maybe there was actually something left to eat; Until I checked the fridge of course. There was nothing. Absolutely nothing; Maybe someone just come and rob us of all the food we had during the night? Well, come to think of it; Axel hasn't actually left the house to get food in a while. Neither have I...

Curse us and our horrible laziness that just seems to get worse every day. Here I am just standing in front of the fridge, door wide open; Staring at nothing but half a bottle of water and some old grapes, and I _still _don't even want to leave the house to get something to eat. Sad isn't it? Sometimes, I even amaze myself at how much of a bum I can be...

My face scrunched up in annoyance."Axel!" I shouted, reaching in the fridge with my hand to move the water bottle to see if anything was behind. Sadly, there was nothing.

He walked around the corner into the kitchen with his phone in his hands; Seemed like he was texting or something. "What?" He asked when he walked up to me, looking at the screen of his phone.

I picked up the grapes and kicked the fridge shut. "There's no food.." I complained then walked over to the garbage to throw out the too old grapes.

The sound of clicking buttons stopped as he shut his phone and shoved it in his pocket. He looked up at me and paused, blinking a few times. "What?" He asked again, clearly showing that he didn't even listen to me.

My eyes rolled at him. "There's no food." I repeated, motioning my hand towards the fridge as if telling him to look. Sure enough he walked up to the fridge, opened the door and looked in in.

"Huh, you're right." He said, straightening up and turning to look at me. "So what are you gonna do about it?" He asked with a monotone voice.

"I'm not doing anything," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "It is _your _turn to go out and buy food." I added as an afterthought.

He scrunched up his face in protest and his gaze went to the floor. "Fine," He said, bringing his eyes up to look at me. "But only if I don't have to go though one of your horrible cleaning frenzies."

I tapped my foot against the cold kitchen floor, thinking about what he said. I don't really blame him for not wanting to; When I clean, I go all out. Probably thanks to my slight case of OCD. "Fine." I answered back shortly, looking around the house. It wasn't too messy; Just some things here and there that weren't in their place. But still not good enough for me.

He looked revealed at my answer. "Thank god," He said, turning to walk out of the kitchen."I might as well leave now; Is there we need?" He asked, while stopping at the bottom of the stairs.

A few seconds passed before I spoke up. "Everything." Was my short answer.

He rolled his eyes at me. "I meant anything specific smart ass." He said, taking one step up the stairs.

"Not really." I said. "Just everything we usually get." I added as an afterthought.

"And when I'm out getting everything," He started, leaning over the railing to look at me. "What are you going to be doing?" He asked me.

"Cleaning of course." I said, already getting started on that. "With the mess you made it's probably going to take all day." I added.

He was walking up the stairs already. "It's not that bad!" He shouted from the top of the stairs.

"Yes it is!" I shouted back, grabbing a few dishes from the living room and brought them over to the kitchen where I dumped them into the sink; Along with all the other dirty dishes in there. I rolled my sleeves up so they wouldn't get wet when I was washing the dishes.

I grabbed the sponge that was in the sink and turned on the water,letting it run for a few seconds so it would get hot. I poured some soap on the sponge and then squeezed it, making it foam up with a lot of bubbles. When I picked up the first dish, I heard Axel run down the stairs and then heard him walk into the kitchen.

He peered over my shoulder at what I was doing; I could smell whatever he just sprayed on himself. Too close for comfort... "So you really are cleaning..." He said, sounding like he was a little surprised.

I moved my head a little to look at him, since he was still looking over my shoulder. "Can you leave and get some food before I die of hunger?" I asked him.

He laughed loudly, "Yes ma'am." He said, then walked away from me to the front door. The door creaked when he opened it, then creaked even louder when he slammed it shut.

"I really should fix that damn door..." I mumbled to myself, picking up another dish to wash it. My stomach grumbled again, for what seemed like the hundredth time to me. He just better get back here soon with that food...

*^*  
_Sora's P.O.V._

Unpacking boxes is absolute torture. I don't even know why people pack some of their useless things. They just need to learn how to let go of some things so then there would be less crap to pack, and unpack. I mean-Here I am, sitting in the middle of the living room, unpacking some of Roxas' boxes.

Most of the stuff he packed is just plain junk. Like these old blankets. When on earth does he even use them? Never! I really should just throw it away. Well...maybe not. He'd probably kill me if I did. _'Speaking of Roxas, where is he anyways?'_ I thought to my self, looking around the room. '_Not here...'_

I dropped the blankets in my hand, back into the box and the stood up from the floor, brushing some lint from the back of my pants. "Hey Roxas!" I called out through out the house trying to find out where he was. "Where are you?" I called out again, hearing my own voice echo in the house.

Nothing. The house was pretty much quiet, not counting the music coming from the radio in the living room. "Where is he.." I mumbled to myself while walking through the kitchen. I was going to leave the kitchen, but then the fridge caught my eye. Of course I couldn't leave without looking in there, right?

My gaze went to the fridge as I walked up to it and opened it, scanning around for anything I can quickly eat. "Sweet." I said to myself and reached in the fridge to grab the last chocolate pudding cup. These things were my favorite;They go by so fast. Not sure how this one even lasted for the few days that we lived here so far.

I ripped of the top of the pudding cup and licked off the extra pudding that some how always ended on there, then dropped the top wrapper on the counter. Walking over to the sink where all the clean dishes were drying off in the dish rack, I grabbed a clean spoon.

Since I was so focused on my pudding, I didn't notice that when I turned the corner to leave the kitchen I happened to run into Roxas. Even though Roxas is skinny and short, he feels like a brick wall if you run into him. "Ow! Watch it Sora!" Roxas yelled, staggering back a few steps, rubbing his face with his hand. Then that's when I noticed something; My pudding!

It was all over Roxas' shirt! The last one...gone...I felt a huge frown come onto my face as I looked at it. "It's gone..." I said, very upset at losing the last one.

"What's gone-Eck!" Roxas looked down at his shirt to see the splattered brown chocolate pudding all over his shirt. "What the hell _is_ this?" He asked, yelling a little and pulling at his shirt to get it away from his body.

I sighed, then bent down to grab the empty pudding cup and spoon that was on the floor. "It was the last pudding cup we had.." I straightened my self up and kept on looking at the 'mess' on his shirt. I really wanted it....

Roxas walked passed me into the kitchen and went up to the sink, turning it on and taking off his shirt. "Oh man.." He said, pulling at his white undershirt. "It got on this too.." He continued, then sighed. "Why can't you be more careful Sora?" He asked, turning his head to look over his shoulder at me.

I walked up to the garbage and dropped the pudding cup in it, and then walked over to the sink and dropped the spoon in there. "I was being careful." I said, watching him wash off the pudding that was still on his shirt.

He snorted out a laugh. "Obviously not since _this_ happened." He said, lifting up the wet shirt in his hand and pointing to his under shirt with this other hand. "And I just washed these too..."

My blue eyes rolled in response to his complaint. "I'll wash it." I said, looking over at him scrubbing the stain out. "Problem solved." I added as an afterthought.

"No." He snapped his head towards me. "I'm not letting you wash anything of mine after that incident." He said glaring at me.

"It wasn't my fault!" I argued trying to defend my self. "If they made the bottles of bleach different from the laundry detergent, then it wouldn't of happened." I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

He sighed then turned off the sink. "That's why you need to _read_ the labels." He ringed out all the water from his shirt into the sink. "If you did, then you wouldn't of ruined all our dark clothes.." He said.

I felt a frown come onto my face again. "I'm sorry okay? It was an accident." I said, feeling guiltily about the whole, 'bleach' thing.

Roxas must of noticed my sad expression; He then sighed and turned to look at me. "Forget about it." He said, then taking off his undershirt. "Let me wear your shirt" He said, dropping his undershirt on the counter where the first one was.

My eye brow rose. "Why?" I asked him, eyeing him. "You're not going to ruin it are you?" I asked, backing away from him and holding onto my shirt.

He rolled his eyes. "No you moron." He said, taking a step towards me. "I planned on going to the store and now I need a clean shirt, so give." He said, putting his hand out.

I was still clinging onto my shirt. "Are you sure you not lying?" I saw his eye twitch and a scowl make it's way onto his face. "Okay, fine. Sheesh." I said, pulling off my own shirt and handing it to him. "I don't understand why you can't just go up stairs and get one of your own shirts." I asked, while walking away to the living room to get the extra hoodie that was on the couch.

"Because," He slipped into my shirt and pulled at the bottom of it, stretching it out a little. "I'm too lazy." He said, grabbing his other two dirty shirts. "And this one is comfortable."

I walked back over to him, putting on the hoodie I grabbed a few seconds ago. "Of course it is." I said, looking at my shirt. "But it does look ridiculous." I pointed to the picture on the shirt. It was a dancing ice cream cone with a stupid looking grin on it's face. I know I probably should of thrown that out years ago, but it's so damn comfortable. I only wear it around the house anyways.

Roxas looked down at the picture on the shirt, then shrugged his shoulders. "Who am I trying to impress." He said, then started to walk away from me.

I stood there for a few seconds, before I stared to walk after Roxas. "So what are you going to get at the store?" I asked, finally catching up to him.

He turned to look at me, then faced ahead of him again. "We need to buy more paper so we can start drawing the blue prints to all the houses and stores we're going to be building." He said.

"Right." I kind of did forget that the reason we moved here was to help build the new part of town. It's not that bad though; We just make the blue prints for it and then help build it if we want to. "When are all the plans due?" I asked, not really remembering when the due date was.

We stopped walking at the closet near the front door. "Well we need to have four done by the end of next week." He opened the closet and pulled out a black zip up hoodie. "So I'll draw two and you'll draw the other two." He grabbed a a light blue hat and put it on. Hmm..it matched the my shirt.

"Sounds good." I said, scratching my head. A quiet 'Hm' was all I got from Roxas as he zipped up his hoodie half way and slipped into his shoes. "Oh by the way Roxy," He glared at me once he heard the nickname he hates so much. "We're out of milk and bread."

He grabbed the keys that were on the table near the front door. "I'll stop by to get some." He said, opening the door and leaving.

"Get some pudding too!" I shouted outside. He just waved his hand before he got into his car, and backed out of the drive way, driving down the road. I closed the door quietly, locking it behind me. I started to walk back over the living room where some boxes were piled on the floor, waiting to be unpacked.

'_A day spent unpacking...' _I thought to my self, as I sat back down on the floor and picked up the remote; Turning on the TV. '_How fun..' _I placed the remote on the floor as soon as I found something interesting to watch, then I went back to unpacking. "Okay," I breathed out, running my fingers through my hair. "Let's see what's in box number one." I pulled a box towards me and opened it, seeing towels, rugs and a shower curtain. '_This would of been helpful when I took a shower this morning..'_

I took a sharpie that was lying next to me, and ripped off the cap with my teeth, writing in big letters 'Bathroom Stuff' so I can then take this stuff up stairs later in the day. "One box is done," I said, putting the cap back on the sharpie and then grabbing another box. I ripped off the tape that was holding it closed; There was nothing that important in the box besides a few pillows. My gave went from the pillows in the boxes to the floor in front of me. _'This is so boring..'_ I thought as I looked up at the clock hanging on the wall.

It read, **4:26**. This day is going to go by really slow since I don't have anything 'fun' to do. '_Let's see, what to do?'_ I asked myself, bringing my right hand up to my head to scratch my temple. '_I could always keep on unpacking...'_ A few seconds of thought filled silence passed before I laughed at that idea. No one wants to unpack at their own free will. I could just always sit and watch TV.

But I always do that; Why did Roxas have to leave without me. He knows how easily bored I get. What am I going to do all alone in this house?! I let my mind wander at all the possibilities that I could do right now. I even considered cleaning; Isn't that just sad?

Maybe I could go visit someone. Like Leon! Eh, no. Scratch that. I doubt he wants unexpected visitors. Wait, what about that Axel guy. He _did_ say I can come visit anytime I wanted. What do I have to lose right? Plus I do need to make more friends around here!

"So it's settled." I said out loud to my self,then getting up off the ground and walked over to the stairs. I needed to get a shirt from my room to wear since I wasn't actually wearing one under neath this hoodie. When I got to my room, I opened the closet and pulled the first thing I saw off the hanger, not bothering to see what was on it.

I took off the hoodie and then slipped into the shirt I picked out; Bright yellow. That will make a statement... I walked out of my room and down the stairs, putting my hoodie back on in the process. I grabbed my house keys that were lying on the small table stand next to the front door, then opened the door and shut it behind me.

As soon as I stepped outside, I was met with tons of falling snow. Since it was snowing so much, you'd think it would be freezing outside. But it wasn't; Weird... I walked down the front steps and then made my way down the sidewalk. "Let's see;" I looked at the houses. "Tan colored house, green window panes..." My eye looked at the first house that was next to mine. That wasn't it; And the house after that wasn't it either.

The _third _house was the one I was looking for. _'Hope they don't mind me coming unexpected.' _I thought, as I walked up to their door. Just as I brought my hand up to knock, I stopped. What if they thought I was weird for just showing up at their door step? No, I'm just being paranoid....Right?

Screw it. I'm bored and want to actually get to know my neighbors. I raised my had one more time and then knocked at the door three times and rang the door bell, then waited for someone to open the door. After what seemed like for ever, I brought my hand up to knock again, but just as I was about to, the door opened.

*^*  
_Axel's P.O.V._

_'Whoever owns this store is gonna make a killing today.' _I thought to myself as I looked at the shopping cart I was pushing around in the supermarket. It was almost filled to the top with food. This is why I hate going grocery shopping for me and Riku. I have to push this monster called a cart all around the store, then I have to walk home; Carrying everything I bought. Even though the store is right down the street, I think I should of taken the car with me.

Man I'm stupid. I knew I had to bring a ton of food back home yet still something in my head didn't click that I'd need my car. Maybe I'll just steal the cart and bring it back some other time. Or I can just call Riku to come and get me. Hm, I'll think I'll do that.

"Is there anything I'm forgetting?" I asked myself as I looked into the cart. I snapped my fingers, "Milk!" I shouted, causing a few stares from strangers to come into my direction. I just grinned at them, before walking away from their sight. I was pushing the cart down the isle and then turned into the section of the store where they sold all the milk; Among other dairy products.

I stopped right in front of all the milk and then reached over to pull one out; But instead of grabbing the milk, I ended up grabbing someones hand. Turned out they wanted the same one too. My initial reflex kicked in and I took my hand away from the other person. My gaze went to said person; And what do you know. Today's my lucky day.

It was that kid I saw at IHOP a few days ago. "Well, if it isn't _Blondie_." I drawled out, eying him up and down. He apparently didn't like the nickname I just gave him; Considering he narrowed his eyes at me. But hey, I forgot his name. At least I didn't call him, 'that kid'. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Well it is a store." He muttered out without any hesitation. "And my name's not _Blondie_; It's Roxas." He stated, looking up at me. Man this kid was short...

So that's what his name was. "My apologizes Roxas." I said, leaning a little on the glass door next to me. He didn't even bother to use a full sentence to answer back. All he said was, 'Hn' and that was it. Roxas then reached over to grab the carton of milk, then I noticed what was on his shirt.

I smirked at him. "Nice shirt." I motioned my head at the bright blue piece of cloth with the dancing ice cream cone.

He snapped his head towards mine,then looked back down at his shirt. A light pink blush was on his cheeks. "It's not mine." He quickly said, defending his choice of clothing.

My shoulders shrugged under neath the black leather jacket I was wearing. "We all have some kind of weird clothes." I said, bringing my hand up to examine it.

"It's my brothers." He informed me. "I just needed a clean shirt and this was the closest thing I had and..."

I bit my lip to try not to let out a laugh. '_I wonder if he notices he's rambling.' _I thought to myself.

"...trust me, I'd never wear this if I had the choice and-"

"Kid, it's fine. I don't care what you wear." I stated, cutting him off from his non stop rambling. "I was just trying to make conversation." I admitted to him.

The blush on his face darkened ever so slightly; Probably realized he was rambling. "Oh.." He said, looking embarrassed. Then he took his other hand to pull up the zipper on his hoodie, completely covering the, interesting, picture on his shirt.

"So what brings you here?" I asked, trying to get him to talk again. He held up the milk in his hands to show me. "Right, stupid question." I said, feeling some what of an idiot with the question I asked. "Well I'm done here." I said, grabbing a carton of milk and putting it in the cart.

Roxas eyed all the stuff that was in the cart. "That's a lot..." He blurted out, still awkwardly staring at it.

"I haven't actually bought food for the house in weeks." I confessed to him. "Walk and talk?" I asked him, starting to walk slowly away from all the dairy products. He nodded his head slightly, and turned on his heel to walk at my side. There was a few moments of awkward silence before I broke it. "So when did you and your brother move in?"

He let out a sigh. "We officially brought all our stuff on Friday." He stated, looking ahead of him. He switched the carton of milk into his other hand.

"Ahh," I drawled out. "Moving sucks." I stated, thinking back to all those times when I was in the foster care program. Always having to start some where new when a family came to take me. "Having to pack everything, then leave everyone you know."

He snorted out a laugh. "Tell me about it." He said. "I'm glad that this is the only time I moved." He added after a few seconds of silence.

"Well aren't you lucky." Roxas looked over at me,brows furrowed, obviously confused with my comment. "I moved around a lot.." I stated to him.

Blue eyes blinked at me. "How many times?" He asked, sounding interested.

"No idea," I said, being completely honest. "Lost count sometime after eleven." It's a little sad actually. I've been to over eleven places, and each and every single time, I'd end up coming back to foster care. It's not like I was a bad kid or anything. Well except for the first few places. But that's beside the point!

Roxas' eyes went wide after I told him. "Why?" He quickly asked me.

'_Here it goes again.' _I thought to myself as I let out a small sigh. "Foster care." Was my short answer. I didn't really want to go into detail about that subject; Not to someone I just met anyways...Even though I think it is a wonderful conversation starter for everybody. Pfft.

A little wave of shock was shown on Roxas' face. "...o-oh..." He stuttered out, not really sure on what to say back to that. "Sorry.."

"Hey," I shrugged at him. "Don't worry about it." He nodded his head, but the look on his face told me that he still was hung up about it. This is why I never tell people! "I did meet a lot of cool people through it."

His bright sky blue eyes snapped up to look at me. "Like who?" He then asked me.

"Well Riku of course." I said with a smile. I swear; If it wasn't for meeting him, that whole foster care 'expeirience' would of killed me. Roxas didn't seemed to be too phased by my answer. "...You don't know him do you." I stated to him. He shook his head, telling me no. "Thought so..." I brought my hand up to scratch my head, then placed it back on on the shopping cart to keep on pushing it. "You know the other day you saw me at IHOP?"

"Wait," He stopped to think it over for a few seconds. "The silver haired guy?" He brought up his hand to point to his own hair, as if trying to get it magically to turn into the long silver hair Riku has.

My fingers snapped right after he finished talking. "Bingo!" I shouted. "That's the guy." I said, then turning to look in front of me.

"So.." Roxas started, but paused, thinking over his words. "..you live with him, right?" He asked.

"Of course, I mean all this," I jerked the cart a head of me to bring it to his attention. "It isn't all for me."

That got a slight chuckle out of him, which was refreshing to hear. "I don't think anyone would believe it's all for you."

One of my eye brows rose at his comment. "It's because I'm a stick isn't it?" I asked him, leaning into his face that was probably considered too close for comfort. Hell, I thought it was perfectly close enough.

A light blush made it's way on to his cheeks when he brought up his hand and placed it on my shoulder, pushing me out of his 'comfort zone'. "That could be the reason." He muttered out, face still stained with a fading blush.

The kid was too cute for his own damn good. "My stick-ness is sort of my thing anyways." I said with a laugh, knowing that it's true. After what seemed like forever, we finally made it to the cashier and know were waiting in line. I was waiting behind some elderly man that was hunched over his cane, or walker, whatever there called; And he was clutching on to a bag of what seemed to be bran muffins, and pills. I scowled a little; I never want to get that old that I have to spend my days eating pills and walking around with a stick. I'm sorry- With a cane.

Roxas didn't seem to watch where he was going because he bumped in to my back. I turned around to look down at him. "Sorry, didn't see you there."

"Sure you didn't blondie." I said smirking at him.

That got me a very harsh glare from my new pal Roxas. "Don't call me that." He said seriously.

"You don't like the nick name I gave you?" I asked him. "That's rude."

He snorted out a laugh. "No I don't like it." He said, shifting from side to side. "It's almost as bad as what my brother calls me..." He quietly said, as if I wasn't suppose to hear.

But you know me, I always seem to hear the things that I'm not. "And that name would be...?" I was curious as to what he was going to say.

"Don't even think that I'm going to tell you," He stated as a matter of fact. "That name is never going to be heard outside of my house." He added as an afterthought.

"Come on," The line started to move ahead of me and Roxas and I took a step or two forward. "It's probably not even that bad."

He rolled his eyes. "It is...." He drawled out.

This kid just gave me the best reason to find out his other nickname. He hates it! So of course, it's second nature for me to find it out and call him it every second I see him. I'm cruel, I know. "I'll find out sooner or later." I stated, then began to place my items near the cashier so he could scan them. I think I heard him mutter something to me. It sounded like, 'I doubt it' or 'Not going to happen.' Whatever he said, it didn't matter to me; Since I was defiantly going to find out his nick name.

*^*  
_Rikus' P.O.V._

'_That's fucking disgusting...' _I thought to myself as I picked up one of Axel's shirt from the chair in the room I was in. '_How can people stand living like this?!' _The shirt that was in my hand was quickly flung over to the laundry basket behind me; It was almost full thanks to all the discarded pieces of clothing I picked up; Just from today might I add..

That was the last shirt left to be washed, so then I turned on my heel and walked over to the laundry basket; Picking it up with ease, I started to walk over to the laundry room. But just as I was about to open the door to the room, the door bell rang; Echoing throughout the house.

My head snapped up in the direction of the noise. "Who the hell could that be?" I asked myself, setting down the laundry basket and walking up to the front door. There was another knock on the door right before I was just about to open it. "Hold on, my god..." I mumbled out and unlocked the door, turning the handle and opening it.

There is where I saw Sora, standing right outside my door, hand raised to knock on the door again. He let his hand drop to his side when he made eye contact with me. "Hi." He shortly said, grinning at me.

I couldn't help but notice that he was blushing slightly. "Hello.." I drawled out, raising one of my eye brows at him. '_Why is he even here...' _

He stood there for a few seconds, shifting his gaze from the door, to the house next to us. "Sooo," He looked back at me. "How are you?" He asked, scratching his head with his hand.

'_...You've got to be kidding me...'_ I leaned against the door a bit, "Not to sound rude but; Why are you here?" I asked him, confused as to why he decided to pop by.

The blush on his face darkened before he let out a nervous laugh. "Well, um, your friend Axel said I could come by any time right?" He asked, unsure about it himself. "So I kind of got lonely at my house and decided to stop by." He shoved his hands into his pockets. "That's not being too pushy is it?" He asked me.

I stood there, thinking over what he just said. A really cold breeze suddenly hit me, making me shiver in my spot. "...Come in." I sopped leaning on the door and pushed it open, holding it wide enough for him to come inside.

He looked shocked for a second; Hell even I was shocked at letting him in. Then a huge grin made it's way onto his face. "Thanks!" He chirped, walking inside my house.

'_Axel better be right about his guy...' _I thought, closing the door so the cold air wouldn't get into the house anymore. "So.." I coughed a little, clearing my throat. "Want something to drink?" I asked, suddenly feeling awkward at this whole...situation.

"Oh! Sure." He said with a smile. "That would be nice." Sora then followed me to the kitchen; He stood there next to the sliding glass door, and I walked up to the fridge and looked to see what was inside. But silly little me, forgot that we had nothing to offer except a half empty bottle of water.

"You don't mind tap water, right?" I asked, closing the fridge. He didn't answer me, but kept on looking outside the door he was standing next to, with a small smile on his face. I took a step towards him, "Hey," I snapped, my fingers at him, bringing his attention to me. "Is tap water fine?" I asked him again.

"Oh, y-yeah." He stuttered out. "That's fine with me." He loosened up his scarf that he was wearing around his neck and walked over to where I was.

I went up to the cabinet and took out a glass, filling it up with water from the tap and then handing it to Sora. "Here."

He brought his hands out of his pockets to grab the glass. "Thanks, Riku." He said, taking a few sips from the cup. "So," He set the cup down on the counter. "this is a really nice place you got here." He then said, looking around the house.

"Personally, I thought it was a mess..." I said, taking a glass for myself and filling it up with water.

Sora looked a little shocked at my comment. "Really?" He asked, "It looks completely spotless to me." He unzipped his hoodie, feeling a little warm in the house.

"Well I kind of am a clean freak." I said, using the term Axel always does when he describes my 'problem'.

"Oh, my brother is just like that." He took a sip from his cup again. "Freaks out if the tiniest thing is out of place." He added, with an amused expression on his face.

I let out a small chuckle. "Seems like your brother and I have something in common." I said, with a smirk on my face. He nodded his head in agreement before taking another sip of his water. Then the awkward silence came back again. I always hated having to deal with it. It so...awkward. "So where do you work exactly?" I asked, trying to strike up something to talk about.

He blinked while looking at me. "Well, my brother and I own this company that builds houses and buildings." He said; I nodded my head,showing him that I was paying attention. "So the main reason we moved here was to build the new part of town." He then added.

My eye brow rose at him. "The entire new section of it?" I asked, now very interested. From what I heard, Twilight Town was suppose to get another huge amount of space added to it. Still, it's going to be a small little town.

He ginned back at me. "Yup," He chirped, taking another big sip of his water, finishing it. "We have to design over fifty buildings," He walked passes me over to the sink and put his cup in there. "Or was it more than that.." He asked him self, looking a little confused. He shook his head then turned to face me. "Whatever the number; It's a lot."

"It seems like a lot of work." I said, thinking over on how much he needed to do to actually make the buildings.

Sora nodded his head. "Oh believe me,it is." He said, blinking his blue eyes at me. "But my brother and I split the work so its not too terrible."

"So how come you couldn't stay in your other town and do the job there?" I asked, trying to not sound like I didn't want him moving here.

He scratched his head, "Well, it was too far of a drive from my old town." He said, looking at the counter with interest. "We didn't want to drive back and forth to see how everything was doing anyways." He then added, looking back up at me.

"Seems like a good reason." I said, playing with the rim of my glass. "How do you like it here in Twilight Town?" I asked him.

He smiled, "It's a nice place. Kind of small, but still good." He said, still smiling. "I haven't really met anyone new though. Beside you and the tall red head." He added as an afterthought.

I shrugged at him. "Well it's a small town, you'll meet everyone sooner or later." I answered back. It was true; In the few years that I first lived here, I met almost everyone in this town.

He looked a little shocked. "This place isn't that tiny is it?" He asked me, blue eyes a little wide.

"Well, not that bad." I said, walking over to the sink and putting my glass in it. "But it's nothing compared to where I once lived." I said, thinking back to when I was a kid. "I lived on the islands; I'm being one hundred percent truthful when I say, you can meet everyone that lived there in a day." I walked passed him towards to living room, taking a seat on the couch,feeling a bit tired.

Sora slowly walked to the living room too; About a few seconds after I sat down. "Wow, that's what you can call an unpopulated island." He walked into the room and took a quick look around, before taking a seat on the other side of the couch where I was sitting at.

I sighed. "Tell me about it." I said, relaxing in my spot.

"When did you move?" He asked me. "From the islands I mean.." He added quickly after, making his question more clear.

I frowned a little, thinking back on why I had to move in the first place. "When I was nine." After the whole incident with my father and mother, I ended up living with my grand mother for two years. She still lived on the islands. When she died, that's when I officially got off the islands.

"Where did you move to?" Sora asked me.

'_Does he have to be filled with questions?!' _I thought to my self with a half scowl on my face. "A lot of places. I never did stay in one for too long." I said, not really wanting to talk about it anymore.

He blinked at me, confused at my response. "Why?" He asked, and what seemed like the tenth question in a row.

I took in a sharp breath and let it out. "Family reasons." I answered back shortly. It wasn't a complete lie; They all were family reasons.

Sora finally took the hint that I didn't want to talk about this anymore. He bit his bottom lip, trying to think of some other topic besides this one. "What's your favorite color?" He asked. That question made me snap my head in his direction, looking confused as ever. "I can tell you don't want to talk about that anymore, so I just came up with something different." He admitted, grinning sheepishly.

_'This kid is too much..' _I thought, feeling a smile tug at the corner of my mouth. "Teal." I said, trying not to laugh at his attempt to change the subject. "My favorite color is teal."

He smiled at me. "Mine is yellow. A very bright and out there color, just like me." He said,pointing to himself.

I smirked at what he said. "You're a color?" I asked, finally loosening up around him.

He looked confused for a split second. "What? I don't- Oh!" He shouted, finally realizing what he said before. "No, I meant that the color was like me; Personality wise." He said, laughing out loud.

His laughing died down, but his smile was still there, bright as ever. It's amazing how he just made me feel relaxed and loose when I wan around him. And to think that I only knew him for a day. Maybe he was the someone I needed to bring me back to how I use to be. If anyone could even do that...

"Hey," My attention was brought back to him and out of my thoughts. "Let's go outside." He suggested.

I rose an eye brow at him. "You're kidding, right?" I said, moving to get more comfortable. "It's freezing outside; And it might snow." I said, thinking back to the weather announcement I heard on the radio this morning.

He snapped his finger at me, pointing at me with his index finger. "Exactly, it _might_ snow." He said, grinning like there's no tomorrow. "Besides, the snow is amazing." He said, drifting off into his thoughts. "And it's better than being stuck in here like a chicken in a coop."

I let out a short laugh at his analogy. "Where would we even go?" I asked him, trying to get him to understand there's no where to go...I think.

He looked from me to the ceiling, tapping his chin with his finger. "Hmmm," He drawled out. "The park?" He suggested, shrugging his shoulders.

"The...park.." I repeated slowly. "In the middle of winter?" I said, just as slow as my first comment. _'Was there something wrong with him?' _I thought in my head.

"Yeah," He started, bringing his hand up to his mouth. "I've never been there yet." He said, biting his nails. "So you in?" He asked, standing up from the couch.

A few second passed with me debating in my head on weather to go or not. "I can't believe I'm agreeing to go.." I grumbled under my breath, while pushing myself off the couch.

Even with me looking like I hated the idea, it didn't stop Sora from smiling at me. "So does this mean you're going?" He asked, excited.

"Yeah," I walked passed him. "Just let me get a coat." I said, walking to the closet and grabbing a coat. I walked back to the front door, and then put on my coat. Sora was already standing at the door, waiting for me to get to the door. "You ready?" I asked him, zipping up my coat.

He grinned at me. "Of course." He said, the grin still on his face. He opened the door and walked out, leaving me inside. I grabbed the keys and put it in my pocket , walking outside and closing the door behind me and locking it. _'I still can't believe I'm going outside...' _I thought again before stepping down the stairs and then started walking with Sora.

*^*  
_Roxas' P.O.V._

Axel just got finished on buying everything he needed, and was waiting for me to finish. I didn't have much beside the milk and bread; And of course, I couldn't forget the pudding. The lady that was scanning the bar codes on the food was an, she was an odd looking one. She had her hair in a bun, which was literally on the top of her head. And I'm not kidding when I say this; She had 80's glam make up. It was almost hard to look at her straight in the face.

"That will be," 'Glam girl' pressed a few more buttons on the cash register, getting the tax added onto my total. "Seven dollars and thirty six cents." She said smiling, showing her not so white teeth under her bright pink lip stick. God....I forced a smile at her when I gave her the money out of my wallet. "Here's your change and," She ripped of the receipt from the register. "Here's your receipt." She said, handing me everything I needed.

I shoved the change and receipt into my jean pocket. "Thanks," I muttered out to her, grabbing my bags and walking over towards Axel. He was filling out a lottery ticket by the time I made it over to him. He didn't even say anything when I walked over to him; Obviously he was too focused in filling out that ticket. "You know....No one ever wins those." I said to him.

He shrugged his shoulders and kept his focus on the lottery ticket, marking off some random numbers. "Doesn't hurt to try." He said, standing up straight and walking up to the girl behind the cashier,handing her his ticket. "Besides, I haven't done this in months. " He said, taking the ticket from the girl behind the counter and thanking her. "And this one feels lucky!" He said, waving around the ticket.

"You really think you'll win?" I asked him. He just nodded his head, saying yes, before putting the ticket in his pocket. I snorted out a laugh. "If you'll win this, I'll-"

"Oh, I know!" Axel cut me off in mid sentence, bending down so he was eye level with me. God I hate being short... "If I win, you'll give me a kiss." He said, smirking at me.

_'Is he being serious right now?' _I thought to myself. Man, if I wasn't blushing before, I sure was now. "W-what?" I stuttered out. _'Smooth Roxas...' _I thought. "Why?"

Axel stood back up, making me feel like I was standing next to a sky scraper. "Why not?" He questioned back. "Besides," He walked back over to his cart. "If you know I won't win, there's not harm in saying yes." He suggested, then smirked again looking at me. "Unless you're scared?"

'_I'm not scared...' _I glared at Axel before walking up next to him. "I'm not scared." I stated to him, repeating what I thought to myself a few seconds before.

He smiled down at me. "So it's settled. If I win, I get a kiss." He said, smile still present on his face.

"And what if you loose?" I asked him, wondering what he was willing to do if he didn't even win in. "The lottery thing I mean." I added to make it more clear. "What do I get out of it?"

He shrugged his shoulders, still looking down at me. "I don't know." He said, scratching his head. "Anything your pretty little head can come up with I guess." He said,dropping his hand from his spiky red hair.

I felt the blush come back. _'Did he just say...pretty little head?'_ I shook that thought away and focused on him. "Anything?" I repeated. "Aren't you afraid I'll come up with something ridiculous?" I asked him, knowing that I probably would. Just to get him back for suggesting that idea of his.

He laughed at me. "I have no shame, so I couldn't care less." He admitted.

I smirked back at him and let out a short laugh. "You're going to regret saying that." I warned, knowing that if he does**- when** he does lose, I'll come up with something horrilbe for him to do. Just because I'm so mean. Well,no, I'll just find it entertaining.

"Maybe I will," He said, pushing his cart towards the exit of the store. "Or maybe I won't," He kept on walking, and I ended up moving to walk right beside him. "Either way, I know it's going to be interesting." He added with a smirk.

Axel and I kept on walking until we were about to turn the corner. When Axel did, he ended up running his cart into some stranger. Poor guy, he didn't even know he was going to get run over by a shopping cart. Who ever he ran into was now bent over, holding his stomach in pain.

"Shit, shit shit," Axel said, suddenly in a panic mode. He quickly made it over to the guy that was bending over. "Hey are you- Demyx?"

Said guy groaned out in pain, but still managed to look up at Axel, one eye open. "Nice to see you too, Axel." He moaned out, still tightly clenching onto his sides.

"Oh man," Axel said, helping Demyx stand up straight. "I'm **so** sorry Dem; I didn't even see you there!"

"Why is it- ow....whenever I see you _I'm _the one getting hurt?" He asked, shutting one eye out of pain."God! How fast were you pushing that damn thing?" Demyx motioned his head over at the cart.

Axel craned his neck to look behind him. "Not that fast..." He said back, feeling all too guilty at basically running over his best friend with a shopping cart. Huh, now there's something you don't hear everyday.

Demyx finally let go out his stomach, letting his arms drop to his sides. But you could still see the uncomfortable look on his face. "It felt like a ton of bricks.."

The red head rolled his eyes. "It's a cart," He said. "With **food. **It's not going to feel like bricks Dem." He added right after, trying to make a point.

"Fine, it felt like a ton of food just hit me." He mused, crossing his arms over his chest.

Not sure why, but that made me laugh just the slightest. Right after I let my laugh out, both guys snapped their heads to look over at me. Obviously they were too wrapped up in their own conversation and the shopping cart ordeal that they forgot I was there. I sure feel loved. It felt a little uncomfortable; Standing there and being started at. So I broke that awkward feeling. "Sorry for him running into you.." I apologized the the sandy blonde guy.

He blinked back at me. "No problem, er...." He stopped mid sentence, not sure what to call me.

"My name is Roxas."

"Roxas?" He asked, looking puzzled, while turning to look at Axel. "Is this the guy you were talk-mhmph!" Demyx's eye shot open.

Axel clamped a hand over his mouth, stopping him from saying whatever he wanted to say. "Shh! Nope, wrong guy!" Axel said, looking a little embarrassed as he stopped covering his friend's mouth.

'_He was talking about me? But I didn't even really meet to him until today!_'

Axel started laughing nervously, then took a deep breath in. "So, what brings you here?" He asked Demyx, obviously wanting to change the subject.

The sandy blonde guy wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Zexion wanted me to buy him a book."

"Aw, doing all the things your boy friend tells you to do?" Axel asked, mocking him of course.

Demyx instantly got a surprised look on his face, along with a bright red blush. "He's not my boy friend..." He said, in a hushed tone, looking around to see if anyone else heard him.

"Not yet." Axel said, poking him in the chest. "You'll see. One day you're just going to confess your love for him like in one of those sappy romantic movies." Axel then proceeded to get down on one knee,and grabbed Demyx's hand. "Oh Zexion, I've loved you for the longest time, but didn't know how to tell you!" Axel shouted, putting a hand on his chest.

My eyes went a little wide at what I was seeing. _'This guy is so entertaining.' _I thought, looking at both of the guys in front of me.

Demyx looked like he was fully panicking, looking around at the many people that were passing him, giving him the weirdest looks. All he could do was stand their awkwardly, while Axel held his hand and continued to shout lines from romantic movies. "Axel stop!" He tried to shake his hand away from Axel's. "People are staring!" He took another look around, and smiled at the one man standing and staring at them. "Nothing to see here mister."

The guy gave one more look, before walking away from us. Axel just cracked up laughing before he got up and then smacked Demyx on his back. "Oh man, that was priceless. Did you see that guys face?" He asked, pointing his thumb to the old man walking away.

Demyx bit his lip, "Axel! What if Zexion's friends were here and heard you scream all that?" He asked.

Axel wiped a tear away from his eye, "Oh chill, then I just broke the ice that was standing in the way of your loovvee." He said, making a heart in the air with his two index fingers.

"Who's Zexion?" I asked, finally putting my self in their conversation after what seemed liked forever of just standing there.

Blue and green eyes were focused on me. "Well, it's a friend of mine." Demyx answered back.

"Pssh, friend my ass." Axel said,looking at him,then to me. "It's a guy he likes but is too much of a ninny to do anything about it."

I let out a tiny laugh at his choice of words. But then Demyx smacked Axel in the shoulder. "Do you have to tell every one?"

Axel shrugged his shoulders. "Only the important people." He said

"So that random old guy that stopped to look at us was important?" Demyx asked, motioning his hands to where ever that one guy was.

Axel blinked a few times, "Yes."

Somewhere around a few seconds passed of Demyx just standing there, staring at Axel with a blank expression,before he broke out into a fit of laughter. "This is why you're my best friend." He said, still laughing, patting Axel on his back.

"I've seem to be hearing that a lot lately..." Axel said, putting a finger on his bottom lip.

He stopped laughing long enough to talk again. "Well that note, I need to go get his book." Demyx said, "It was nice meeting you!" He shouted at me, grin on his face then looked at Axel. "And it was almost good to see you."

"Hey!" Axel shouted, looking offended. "What's that suppose to mean?"

"Shopping cart."

"Oh..." Axel scratched the back of his head. "Gotcha...So I'll see you at work?" He asked as Demyx was walking away from us.

Demyx made a face of annoyance. "Ugh. Work." He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "Unfortunately yes. Bright and early tomorrow morning."

"Alright, see you then." Axel said, waving goodbye to Demyx as he walked away."

"Bye," He waved to Axel then at me. "Bye Roxas!"

I gave him a smile and a small wave in return and then he kept on walking into the store till we couldn't see him anymore. That's when Axel came up to me. "Sorry for kind of ignoring you." He said sheepishly.

"It's fine, no big deal." I said, starting to make my way out of the store. I heard Axel walk back to his cart and push it, catching up to me. "So you work with him?" I asked.

Axel nodded his head with a smile on his face. "Yup, we work at this little cafe down the street." He said, "Best coffee in the world might I add."

"The best? Maybe I'll have to stop by there and see for myself." I said, zipping up my hoodie once I saw that we were almost at the exit doors. Axel and I finally made it out of the store. Then I didn't hear him pushing his cart anymore; So I turned to see him standing near the doors,looking through his pockets. "Did you forget something?" I asked him.

"Yeah I did," He said, fumbling through all of his pockets. "My car." He added.

I rose an eye brow at that. "Your....car?" I repeated, thinking that he was just...insane.

His head snapped up from his pockets to look at me. "I walked here, but now I'm kind of regretting it since I have so much shit to carry home." He muttered something under his breath after he patted down all of his pockets. He stopped looking for whatever he needed. "I can't find my phone either..." He looked frustrated for a moment, then smiled at me. "Can I use yours?"

"For what?" I asked back, not sure what he needed it for.

"So I can call for a ride." He answered back.

I bit my lip to stop from talking and offering a ride home, but it ended up slipping out anyways. "I'll give you a ride home." I said.

His head shot up to look at me. "Really?" He asked, his face suddenly brighter than it was before.

I paused for a moment before answering. "Yeah."

He stood there smiling, before he pushed his cart towards me. "You're the best, Roxas."

*^*_  
Third Person P.O.V._

On their walk towards the park, Riku and Sora were constantly talking; Well, Sora was doing most of the talking, while Riku just kept on walking and listening. But he wasn't complaining, it was sort of refreshing to have some one as bright and happy as Sora around him. Turns out they have a few things in common. Scratch that, they had almost nothing in common. They were probably considered complete polar opposites. Even though they didn't have much to 'click' with, they still managed to talk like they were best friends that got separated some time in their lives.

After a few minutes of walking, they made it to the park. It wasn't that far away from their homes to begin with, maybe a ten minute walk at most. Once they got to the park, they found it to be absolutely deserted. Probably because it was the middle of winter, and most people were at home. In their nice...warm..homes.

God Riku disliked Sora at that moment; Why couldn't he just of insisted to stay at his house? Or anywhere else that was warm? But no, he had to let himself get talked into going out into the cold. And to the park for god's sake. "Why are we here again." Riku asked, sounding a tad bit grumpy.

Sora looked to him out of the corner of his eye, then back at the trail that was going through the park. "Because it's a fun place to be," Sora answered back. "Besides, when else could you get the park all to your self like this?" Sora took his hand out of his coat pocket, and motioned it around the park, proving the point that there was in fact, no one else but them.

It was sort of peaceful; Not having screaming little children around. But it still didn't change the fact that it was in the middle of winter. "You could always come here at night." Riku argued back, trying to make a point. "During summer nights. When it's _warm._" He made sure to put a lot of emphasis on that last word.

To Riku, it looked like Sora made a face out of disgust? Or maybe that was just his imagination. "It's too creepy during the night." Sora said back to him. "And you couldn't see how pretty everything is when it's all dark outside." He said, tilting his head to Riku and looked at him.

"What's there to see anyways?" Riku asked, looking around the park to see if he was missing some sort of beautiful sight. But to him, all he saw was old jungle gym's, trees, and snow covered grass. "There's nothing much to see in my opinion." He added. The sounds of footsteps came to a stop, well only Sora's. Riku must of noticed because he stopped walking too, and looked behind him. "What?"

"What do you mean there's nothing to see?" Sora asked, looking a little shocked. "There's tons to see!" He shouted, throwing his arms into the air above his head enthusiastically. "Like first of all, the trees." He proceeded to point to every leaf-less tree in the park, covered in snow.

Riku looked around again, but still didn't see anything too special. If anything was "pretty" here to begin with, it was all dead now. All the trees are bare and covered in snow, the bushes look like they were practically made out of snow, and there was no grass. Just white, fluffy snow. He made a scowl at the sight around him. "Nope. Nothing." He then said, turning back to Sora.

The brunette looked the tiniest bit sad, but that was quickly replaced by a smile. "Just watch Riku," He said, walking up to him. "I'll get you to see the beauty in nature." He then proceeded to poke the taller boy in the chest. Sure Riku didn't feel it, considering he was wearing about five layers clothes at that moment. And of course, a scarf.

Said silver haired guy smirked down at Sora, and pushed his finger away from him. "Your not going to turn me into on of those nature loving freaks right? He asked, getting a small smile out of Sora.

"If that's what it takes, then yes." Sora said, smile still on his face. He started to walk away from Riku, following the trail that let through the park. Riku stood in his spot for a few more seconds. He wasn't sure why, but he felt a little uneasy. Maybe it was nerves; But what was there to be nervous about? Sora's voice broke him out of what ever daze he was in. "You coming?" Sora asked, stopping a few feet ahead of Riku.

"Huh?" Riku muttered out, before shaking his head. "Oh yeah..." He said quickly said, walking over towards Sora. With every step he took, he could feel the snow underneath his shoes sink down more into the ground when he stepped on it. After hhe caught up with Sora, he then started to walk at a more comfortable pace. And by comfortable, that means as slow as possible. "So what is there to actually **do **here?" Riku asked, not sure of what else to saw. But then in the back of his head, he was regrettig asking that thanks to the reaction from Sora.

"Look! There's the swing set!" Sora yelled, then took off running to the empty swings like he was racing someone to them. Even though they were the only ones there. He dashed through the snow, flinging some up into the air ever other time his foot came up from the ground.

Riku smiled to him self, then let out a laugh, but loud enough for just him to hear. He started to walk over to where Sora was running to, but he chose to walk in the steps already made in the snow thanks to Sora. He got over to the swings,and watched as Sora flung off the snow that was covering the seat. He couldn't help but to blurt out; "I swear, it seems like your a five year old. The way you freaked when you saw the swings."

Sora cleared off all the snow on his seat before sitting down, making the swing set creak when he let his full weight on it. "I'm twenty one, thank you." He said, trying to looked offended, but initially failed because he broke out into laughter.

Riku snorted out a laugh, and leaned against the pole behind him. "You could of fooled me." He said with a smirk on his face, looking up into the sky.

"You didn't let me finish." Sora started to swing back and forth. "I'm twenty one," He kept on getting higher into the air, making Riku focus his attention on him. "But I might act like a little kid at times." He added, now swinging as high as gravity would let him. A few moments passed with Sora going back and forth, and the creaking of the swing was the only thing heard; Until Sora spoke up; "Aren't you going to swing?" He asked, looking down at Riku when he swung above him.

Sea foam colored eyes looked at the empty swing next to Sora, before he pushed himself of the pole he was leaning on, and walked to t he swing. Bringing his hand out of his pocket, he brushed off the snow that was on the seat, hissing a little with his bare hand touched the freezing cold. Finally, Riku sat down, and grabbed onto the metal chains of the swing, instantly shivering when he did. It was cold in all the wrong places....

He dug his shoe into the snow below him, pushing on it so he was swinging back and forth. But not as high and as fast as Sora was. Even though it was absolutely freezing, it was sort of relaxing. He then looked up and noticed that he had the perfect view of the sun setting. '_After the sun sets, I'm going home...._' Riku thought to him self, pushing off his foot again to swing more. '_I don't want to stay here when it's dark..'_

_"_So do you come here often?" Sora asked while he slowed down by digging his heels into the ground. Once he stopped, he bent down to brush off all the snow that ended up on his shoes and pants.

Riku glanced over at him, looking at where he was brushing off the snow. "No." He said, feeling a cold breeze go through his hair, making it fly every where. "I think this is only the second time I came here." He added, taking his hand to move his hair out of his face.

Sora looked up at him while he still was getting all the snow off his clothes. "Really? Wow...." He said, sitting straight up again. "That's a shame. I'd go here everyday if I could." He added as an afterthought.

For some reason, Riku kept on fumbling with his hands. "Why don't you?" He asked, not even bothering to look at Sora when he asked that; He was too busy focusing on his hands. "I mean, you live here and all. Just walk over here everyday." Riku added.

Another cold breeze passed,making Sora shiver in his spot. "I could but..." He drifted off, sniffling a little since it was so cold. "I don't want to go here all alone." He laughed, and hugged himself, trying to get warm. "I'd look like a complete dork coming here everyday by myself."

Riku smirked at him, "You're right." He said, "Just find someone to go with," Riku shifted a little in his spot, trying to get comfortable on that tiny swing. "Like your brother." He said, suggesting any people he could think of. Even though that wasn't many thanks to the fact he just met Sora a few days ago and doesn't know his friends.

Sora made a face of annoyance. "Roxas never wants to go anywhere fun with me." He placed his chin on his hands, and looked out in front of him. "He's such a wet blanket sometimes..."Sora said, the annoyed look on his face was still there.

'_A....what?_' Riku thought to him self, never hearing that expression before. He rose an eye brow at his choice of words. "A....wet blanket?" He repeated to Sora.

Sora glanced at Riku, picking his head up from his hands. "You, never heard that before?" He asked, blinking at him. Riku nodded his head, saying no. "Oh," A blush appeared on Sora's face, probably from the cold. "Well I probably sounded like a weirdo for saying that." He said, laughing sheepishly, while the blush on his face got a little darker.

"No you don't, it just that-" Riku paused for a second, "I've never heard that before." He said, laughing a little.

Sora looked over at him again, grin perfectly visible on his face. "Well you did now." Sora said, turning away to look at the view he had in front of him. "Speaking of my brother," The grin on Sora's face was slowly disappearing. "I'd probably have to go back home, or else he'll flip."

Riku's eye brow rose, as he turned to look at him. "He's going to get mad that you're not home?" He asked, shoving his hands in his pocket to keep them warm.

Sora shrugged. "I doubt that would be the reason." He said, still looking out in front of him. "I was suppose to do some unpacking like I promised, and I never did." He started to laugh during the last part of his sentence. "With me living there, it's going to take years to unpack."

Riku smirked at him. "Tell me about it, it took years for Axel and I to finally unpack everything." He said, thinking back to all the times they put off unpacking because they 'didn't feel like it'. "And I was suppose to be cleaning today anyways; Until you came along and made plans."

"Oh! I didn't know, I'm sorry!." Sora now was looking guilty. "You should of told me that you we're busy and then-"

"Hey," Riku interrupted him. "It's fine really. I'm glad you got me out of working all day." Sora still didn't look convinced, but dropped it anyways. They both sat there, just staring off into wherever and enjoying the silence. Who knows how long they stayed there, but it was long enough for the sun to completely set, and night to finally take over. "We better get going." Riku said, standing up from the swing.

"Yeah..." Sora breathed out, then took a few seconds to finally get up off the swing. "Lead the way back home, Riku." He said, motioning his hands out of the park.

Riku smiled, then started to walk away from the swings and back to the trail that went through the park. "Follow me." He said, then hearing Sora's foot steps right behind him.

*^*

Axel had finally just finished putting all the groceries into the trunk of Roxas' car, which took quite an amount of time considering how much he bought. But nevertheless, it was all finally in the car and they can start going home. Roxas closed the trunk and then started to dig for his keys that were in his pocket.

While he was looking, Axel went to put away the shopping cart. And by putting it away, for Axel that just meant pushing it as hard as possible so it can land somewhere far away in the parking lot. He was probably the main reason that the people who worked here hated their job. Always having to go out to the strangest places to get the carts.

By the time Axle walked back to the car, it was already started with Roxas sitting in the drivers seat, waiting for Axel to get in the car. Axel walked up to the passenger seat, and opened the door, getting into the seat, and closing the door. "Thanks again for the ride, Roxas." He said, moving around in his seat to get more comfortable. "I owe you one." Probably right after he got into the car, it started to snow. And no one wants to walk back home when it's snowing.

Roxas put the car in reverse, and started to back out of the parking spot; He turned his head to look behind him for any on coming cars. "It's not a problem, really." He said, now fully out of the parking spot. "Besides, I'd feel weird making you walk home when it's freezing out. And put on your seat belt."

Axel rolled his eyes, and put on his seat belt. "So what if it was perfectly sunny out? Would you make me walk then?" Axel asked, fumbling with the seat belt so it wouldn't completely bother him. But that wasn't turning out too well since he wasn't use to wearing them in the first place.

By now, Roxas had made it out of the parking lot, and was now waiting at the red light so he could turn into the street. "Well if it was sunny out, I wouldn't feel as bad." He admitted to him, having a little smirk on his face.

"Well," Axel laughed out. "Glad to know when I should mooch rides off from you." He looked out the window. "And I'd say I have a few good months of mooching left to go." He was probably right; With the horrible weather in Twilight Town, it's probably going to be snowing, and cold, and just plain bad for the next few months. Winters here were the worst, just because they lasted forever.

Roxas' eyes were focused on the rode ahead of him. Some reason, there were no cars out right now. Well just a few, but nothing compared to how the roads usually are packed up with traffic. You know, for living in a small town, they sure did have a lot of traffic. "Don't you have your own car to drive?" Roxas asked him.

Axel paused for a few seconds before answering. "Yeah..." He brought up one hand to scratch at his head. "But I like driving with other people better." He said, looking over at Roxas. "It's better than being all alone in the car." He then pressed the window button, and rolled down his window, then put it back up, then back down again.

That went on for about a good thirty seconds before Roxas finally said something about it. "Can you not?" He said, making Axel stop to look at him. "It's bothering me, and you're letting in all the cold air." He added, signaling a turn and switching into a different lane.

Axel dropped his hand into his lap. "Sorry about that." He said, looking back out the window, seeing the passing cars, and trees. "So Roxas, how old are you anyways?" He asked, trying to strike up a conversation, and on the other hand, trying to get to know him better.

Roxas looked at him from the corner of his eye, then back at the rode. "I turned twenty one in October." He answered back to him. "What about you?" He asked back.

Green eyes went a little wide at his answer. "Well I'm twenty four, but wow.." He said, looking a little shocked. "Only twenty one? I swear I thought you we're....younger." He said, his eyes not as wide anymore. '_The kid is probably lying...no way in hell he's twenty one...' _Axel thought to him self.

Roxas looked rose his eye brow at him. "Younger?" Roxas repeated out loud. "How much younger...exactly.."

".....Nineteen."

Roxas looked offended at that number. To find out that someone thought you we're nineteen when you're clearly not, kinda bums you out. "It's because I'm short isn't it?" Roxas asked, even though he knew what he was going to say. Everyone thought he was younger just because of his height deficiency.

Axel bit his lip, trying not to laugh and smile. "Would you be mad if I said yes?" He asked him.

Roxas just set out a sigh, but looked as if he was upset. "No...I guess I'm kind of use to it anyways." He said, turning into their neighborhood. "Plus it's not like I can magically grow over night." He added, stopping at the intersection, and looking both ways.

"Well," Axel leaned into Roxas. "You could always wear stilts!" Roxas had a scowl on his face while Axel kept on talking. "You know," Axel nudged at his shoulder. "You van be like those circus performers!" He shouted.

Roxas still had that scowl on his face, clearly not too fond of that idea. "No thanks," He said, pushing away Axel's elbow that kept on nudging him. "I don' want to resemble anything to a circus performers." He said, looking at the road. "Besides, can't you just picture how ridiculous I'd look with them on?" He asked.

Axel laughed at the image that popped into his head; He had to wipe away the tears from his eyes he got from laughing too much. "Aw man, that was good. " He breathed out, still laughing. "Wow, anyways,back to what I was- Holy shit is that Riku?" He asked, looking outside his window. Sure enough, there was Riku walking down the street with that Sora kid. "Isn't he with your brother?" Axel asked, opening the car window.

Roxas looked over at Axel's side, and saw that Sora was walking with that guy with the silver hair. "Yeah," Roxas said, looking back at the road. "I don't know why he's with him though; He was suppose to-"

Roxas never finished what he wanted to saw thanks to a certain red head, fully opening the window and screaming. Just as they drove past them, Axel popped his head out the window. "Riku is a whore!" He screamed as loud as possible. Roxas shook his head and muttered something under his breath. He also saw that Riku heard what Axel yelled, kinda hard not to though, and then flicked him off. That made Roxas laugh to himself.

Axel sat back down into his seat and rolled the window back up. "Sorry, but I had to do that." He said, still grinning at what he did a few moments ago. Roxas still just shook his head at him, wondering why he's so immature; But at least he was fun to watch. Roxas kept on driving the car until he was parked in Axel's drive way.

"Here we are;" Roxas said, putting the car in park. "You need help getting your stuff out the trunk?" He then asked, clicking off his seat belt and putting his hand on the door handle.

Axel blinked at him, then opened his door. "Sure, go nuts." He said, getting out of the car and closing the door right after; Roxas doing the same. The trunk of the care opened, when Roxas pressed the button for it. Right when they're were about to open the trunk and take out everything, Riku and Sora finally came over.

"Well well well..." Axel said, smirking at his roommate. "Look who finally came back, Mr. I'm going to clean all day." He said, mocking Riku's voice, trying to make it sound really high pitched and annoying. He saw that Sora started laughing behind Riku, but stopped as soon as Riku glared at him. So Sora just covered it with a loud cough, and then put his hands in his pocket.

Riku stopped glaring at Sora, then looked at Axel. "I did clean." He said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Just not all day. I didn't know that would make me a, let me see.." He tapped his finger on his chin. "A whore?"

Axel closed his eyes and raised his hands in a defensive matter. "I just speak the truth, Riku." He cracked one eye open and then smiled. "Ah, I'm just messing with you." He said, walking over to him and draping his arm around Riku's neck, pulling him into the direction of which he was walking. "But now you can help me bring in all the stuff to the house." Axel said, turning his head to Riku.

Riku looked the other way, and pushed him off, trying to get more personal space. "I know. I always do anyways." He said, walking over to the trunk of the car where Roxas was,grabbing bags as well.

Axel, started to walk over to the car to help the other two, but then stopped, and turned on his heal. Sora was standing there, staring off into space at the house across the street. Axel walked up to him and bent down to get to his eye level. "Hey." He said, making Sora jump and snap his head at him. "So I'm guessing you hung out with Riku today?" He asked, wanting to know.

Sora smiled, but had a blush on his face. Probably from the cold air. "Yeah, I didn't think he would be so, talkative. Well more than I expected anyways." He said, scratching the back of his head.

Axel stood back up, eying the shorter brunette in front of him. "You seem like a good kid to me." He said, walking so he could stand next to him; Axel draped his arm around his shoulder, pulling Sora into him. "And Riku seems to like you. And he **never** likes people." Axel said; Sora was looking up at him, walking with him at the same pace. "So don't do anything to fuck him over, got it memorized?"

Sora went wide eyed at him, as he felt Axel's arm slip off his shoulders. "Oh I'd never do anything like that!" Sora said to him. "I'm too nice anyways." Sora grinned sheepishly, making Axel eye him one more time, before shrugging his shoulders; He motioned for Sora to follow him and help bring everything back into the house.

But by the time they got there, Riku and Roxas had already brought everything into the house, and were waiting at Roxas's car. "Oh well, I've seemed to miss my chance at helping...damn." Axel said, scratching the side of his face, then dropping his arm to his side.

Roxas and Riku both rolled their eyes at him, because they both thought he took 'too much time' to walk over to help. "Well I'm done freezing my ass off out here." Riku, said, walking away to the house.

"Bye Riku!" Sora blurted out, waving him goodbye. Riku stopped in his tracks, and turned around to give him a small wave, then kept on walking until he was in the house. "Well, I better go home. It was nice seeing you again, Axel." Sora said, grabbing his attention to him.

"Same here short stuff." He said, making Sora grin at the name before he turned to walk back to his house. Apparently he wasn't as touchy about his height like his brother was. Speaking of his brother..."So thanks again for giving me a ride home, I really do own you one."

Roxas opened his car door and stood by it. "It's fine, really." He said.

Axel snapped his fingers after thinking for a while. "I got it!" He shouted, "Come by the cafe sometime and I'll give you some free coffee; You like coffee right?" He asked, unsure if his gesture was even worth it.

Roxas sat into his car seat, and closed the door, but peeked his head out the window so he could still see Axel. "I live off the stuff." He started his car, and put it in reverse, but kept his foot on the brake. "I'll be holding you up on that offer, Axel." He said, waving him goodbye before backing out of his drive way and then driving down the street to his house.

Axel stood there waving for a few second, before he walking to the house. Instantly he felt ten times warmer, god how he loved heat. He peeled off his jacket, and dropped it on the floor knowing that he'll get to it eventually. "Oh Riku!" He shouted across the house. He got a small noise as a response, and then walked over to the kitchen. There Riku was, making some tea for himself, and shivering like there was no tomorrow.

Axel kept on walking in the kitchen until he took a seat in the chair; Riku finished making his tea, and he took a seat right next to Axel, as we quietly sipped at his tea. The red head placed his head in his hands, and sat there, smirking.

Riku must of noticed the look Axel was giving him, because he stopped drinking his tea, and looked at him. ".....what?" He asked, setting down his cup at the table. Axel just kept on sitting there, smirking at him. Riku got a little irritated at him, just sitting there, freaking him out with his stares. "What!" He asked again.

"So spent all day with Sora I see." Axel said, grin on his face.

A blush went on Riku's face, but he turned away to look at the table. "Yeah, and?" He took another sip from his cup. "I got bored here,so I went out." He stated to him like there was nothing wrong about it.

"I knew it!" Axel shouted at him. "You like him!!" He poked Riku in the arms, face, and chest, but Riku kept on swatting away his fingers. "Finally, you're coming out of that weird ass shell of yours." He said, laughing at his own words.

Riku glared at him. "Weird ass shell?" He repeated, while Axel just nodded his head. "....So what if I do!" Riku said, trying to defend the fact that he _might_ have one. "And I don't like him. Not like that anyways."

Axel snorted out a laugh. "Sure you don't, Riku." He got up from the table, and started to walk away from him. "But he is a good guy. Much better than all the other assholes you had the pleasure of knowing!" He shouted, now completely gone from the room.

Riku stared into the cup filled with his tea, and then smiled. "Yeah...He sure is.." He mumbled, just loud enough for him to hear.

* * *

**A/N:** Again, took way longer than expected. I guess I'll just have to find more time to work on this. Gahhh, but I hope you enjoyed it :] But! The rest of the chapters from here on will be in third person POV. Just saying :] And if there was a lot of errors in here, I'm sorry :P


	6. Chapter 6

**Can You Help Me?  
**

**Description: **Sora has always been a kind person; Giving help to anyone that needed it. Riku has had a troubled life, and in turn, shuts anyone out that tries to help him. Can Sora be the one to help Riku not be so cold and distant? [RikuxSora]

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Kingdom Hearts. Never have, never will...*sigh* Anyways! This, my lovely readers, is **MY** story. Everything in it was **MY** idea. Take anything from it, and you will regret it.

**Rating/Warning:** Mature - Language, Violence, Yaoi later on ;], all that jazz

**A/N: **Yupp. It's been two years. Shame. Oh well :] Suck it and read it bitch :3

* * *

**.::Chapter Six::.**

There was a sense of peace in the house; Considering it was only seven o'clock in the morning, and both Roxas and Sora were still fast sleep. Not a single noise was heard through out the house; Just the sound of the heat blowing through the vents, and the sound of the clock ticking downstairs. In Sora's room, he was on his bed, more like sprawled all over it, taking up every single inch of space there was. The blankets were a mess, tangled all around him. He was sleeping with his mouth open, occasionally snoring.

But Roxas was much different. His windows were tightly shut, and so were the blinds, not allowing any cold air or light into his clean room. He only took up one side of his bed, barely touching the other side of the mattress. The sheets were still perfect, like no one even touched them. Hard to tell that someone was even sleeping there. Basically, he was having the best sleep he could possibly have.

That was until his phone started to go off. Roxas heard his phone, and then opened his eyes, blinking away the tired feeling. "Ehh..." He groaned, looking up at the phone on his nightstand. It was shaking because he put it on vibrate, and the ring tone was still playing. His hand shot up from under the warm covers, and grabbed the phone.

Before even answering it, he checked to see who would be calling him at such an ungodly hour. He brought the screen to his face and squinted his eyes because of the bright light coming from it. It turned out to be one of his co-workers Marluxia that was calling him. He flipped open the phone and put it to his ear. "Hello?" He breathed out, letting his head fall back on the soft pillow as he closed his eyes.

"Hello, Roxas?" Marluxia questioned into the phone, after a few seconds of hearing static. Damn the bad reception he got in his room.

Roxas yawned, but covered his mouth with his hand, then he let his arm rest over his eyes. "Mmm...Speaking.." He croaked out, his voice not really ready to talk in the first place.

"Ah, good morning Roxas. Hope I didn't wake you up, did I?" He asked Roxas.

Roxas shook his head no, but then realized that Marluxia couldn't see him do that. "No." He lied into the phone. A pause went by before he spoke up again. "Why are you calling?" He asked, trying to wrap up the conversation as quick as possible so he could go back to bed.

He heard Marluxia talking to some one else in the background, but couldn't make out who it was. "Well I was actually calling to tell you that the first project you we're suppose to be working on has been moved to another day, and..." He drifted off, more static was heard in the phone. Or maybe it was the sound of moving papers in the back ground. "Ah, and that you need to plan a different part of town first."

Roxas made a scowl on his face. "Alright, is that it?" He asked, hoping that this was the end of the conversation. But knowing his luck it wasn't.

"Not exactly actually.." Marluxia said back rather quickly. "You need to come over here and pick up the new papers before you start planning out anything." He said. Roxas hated himself at that moment. "And you should do it now since you need to start planning soon..." He added after a few seconds of waiting.

Roxas mentally groaned to him self; He really didn't want to get out of bed, let alone go anywhere. "Alright, I'll be there soon." Roxas said his good byes, and snapped the phone shut, flinging it to the bottom of his mattress, next to his feet. His eyes were still closed, and he took both hands to run through his hair, detangling some of the knots out. A few minutes just passed with him lying there, debating on getting up or not. But he knew he had to; For his job's sake.

Finally, the sheets were tossed off him and he started to make an actual effort on getting up. He sat up on the edge of his bed, and just took a few more seconds to him self. He blinked around the room, as if he was trying to look for something. He groaned out again, before getting off and shuffling to the bathroom.

When he took a look in the mirror, one thought crossed his mind. Boy did he look like a hot mess. Even when he slept like a dead person, not moving a single inch, he always manages to fuck up his hair beyond belief. How? No one will ever know. It's sticking out in all sorts of directions; He looks like he just walked out of getting a hair cut from 'people in training'.

But, having to deal with this every morning, he's master the art of taming the thing he calls hair. Roxas turned on the sink, waited till the water wasn't freezing so he could stick his hands under it, and then ran his hands all through out his hair. And just like that, it looked perfect. Well, close to perfect, but you get the point.

After Roxas finished trying to make himself look decent, he waltzed back into his room and picked up the first two things he saw, which happened to be some jeans and a black shirt. He put on his jeans and then his shirt, pulling at the bottom of it, smoothing out any wrinkles that happened to be on it.

Once he got his clothes on, and grabbed the first hoodie he saw, he walked out of his room; But stopped in mid-step. He turned and looked at Sora's half open door, then decided to harass his brother before he left. Hey, if he was awake at this ungodly hour, so should he. Roxas walked into the room, pushing the door wide opening and hearing it tap against the wall behind it.

"Jesus..." He whispered to himself, as he looked at the mess around him. Why couldn't they both be freakishly neat and tidy like Roxas was? Is that too much to ask? No, it really isn't. He peered his head over to look a his brother, and then made a scowl appear on his face. He took a few steps forward and then stopped in front of him.

Taking a finger, he poked Sora in the face, hoping to get a reaction; "Sora...wake up." He said; But the only thing he got out of Sora was him rolling over onto his side, away from Roxas. Narrowing his eyes, he poked him again, only harder this time, and in his back. "Sora." He said, a little louder. Still, nothing.

Then, without another second of thought, he grabbed the covers, and yanked them off Sora as hard and as fast as he could. That started a domino effect. Sora finally woke up, eyes wide, arms flapping in the air as he tried to comprehend what was going on, and then he rolled off the bed, falling on the floor with his arms and legs tangled into what was left of his bed sheet.

"Morning beautiful" Roxas said, smirking down at Sora, still holding the sheets in his hand. "Hope I didn't scare you too much." He dropped the plain white sheets onto Sora, which pooled on the top of his head , covering every single brown spike of hair that he had. Roxas stepped over Sora and then sat down onto the bed that looked oh so comfortable. If only he could fall asleep on it right now...

Sora flung the blankets off his head, making them land on his back and parts of the floor. He tilted up his head to look at Roxas, more like glare at him. "What was that for?" He asked, pushing him self off the floor, and then sitting on the floor. He still looked completely exhausted, but with a hint of anger towards his brother and his rude awakening. He was asleep, it's not like Sora could have pissed him off in his sleep. Right?

Roxas shrugged his shoulders and brought his hand up to his face to look at it, not bothering to make eye contact with Sora. "I just felt like being an ass really.." Roxas admitted; It probably sounded like a stupid idea, but it was the truth.

His brunette boy sat there on the floor for a few seconds more, glaring at his brother from his spot on the floor. "You did a god job..." Sora said, feeling a twitch go through his lip when he said it. Finally, reality sunk in and Sora realized he was still sitting on the floor. With all the energy he had, which wasn't much considering it was early in the morning, he pushed himself off the floor and stood up, grabbing the sheets in his hands and dropping it onto the mattress next to Roxas. "But why did you really wake me up?" Sora asked.

Roxas looked at the blankets that were next to him. "I got a call from Marluxia a few minuets ago." Roxas said, sighing and running his hand through his hair. "He wanted me to come down and get some more papers. Apparently we're suppose to plan a different part of town first." Roxas' hand grabbed the sheets that pooled up next to him, and brought it to his lap so he fumble with it. This was a bad habit of his; Taking anything in sight and just, picking at it...

While Roxas was explaining, Sora was standing in front of him stretching; Arms above his head, mouth wide open. The only thing that could make it more obnoxious was him yawning. Thank god he didn't. Sora blinked a few times, and scratched his head. "Why did they wait to the last second to tell us?" He asked, walking away from his brother to the bathroom that was in his room.

Roxas snorted out a laugh. "Because they're assholes, that's why." He didn't get a response from Sora,just the sound of the sink being turned on, but he could just picture him rolling his eyes at him. He paused another second, then spoke up. "But I don't know really, at least they told us now and not the day when we were suppose to be done." He said, raising his voice a tiny bit so Sora could hear him from the other room.

The sound of running water came to a stop when the sink was turned off, and then the foot steps of walking was heard. "I just don't see the point of planning a different part." Sora muffled through the towel that he was using to dry his face. "I mean," He threw the towel into the laundry basket, missing by a few inches, making the towel fall on the ground. A frown came onto Sora's face, but it went away when he started talking again. "there's no difference in building one part of the town to the next.." He complained.

In some sense he was right. Who cares where they started planning and building, as long as some progress was actually made. But life wasn't that simple, especially in the work life. There always has to be something, or some one, to make it more difficult then it already is. So all there's left to do is suck it up and do your job.

"You're just upset because you already started planning the other place.." Roxas pointed out to him. The look on Sora's face told him that he was right. "Personally I don't care." Roxas said, getting up from the bed and straightening out his jeans. "As long as I get paid.." He eyed his brother. He was bending down, looking through the pile of clothes that was on his floor. "What are you doing..." Roxas finally asked.

Sora spun his head around to face Roxas, raising an eyebrow at him. "Looking for something to wear..." He answered back like it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Why?" Roxas chirped back quickly.

Sora went back to looking for clothes. "Am I suppose to walk around naked?" He asked, making Roxas cringe at the mental picture he just gave himself. "Besides, aren't I suppose to go with you?" Sora asked, grabbing a shirt from the pile and holding it out in front of him to look for any stains.

"No." Roxas said back to him. "I'm going by my self." Sora turned around and looked at him. "I'll be quick, and a waste of time if you go with me for a few minutes." He added as an afterthought. Mostly he just wanted to go by himself. With Sora, and his bubbly and hyper personality, Roxas knew he would of purposely driven off a cliff if he was stuck in the car with him for more than a few seconds this early in the morning.

Sora dropped the shirt that was in his hands, back onto the floor and shrugged his shoulders. "Oh well then." He said, walking back to the bed. "More sleep for me!" He shouted, jumping onto the bed, making it squeak when he landed on it. "Wake me up when you come back." Sora said, grabbing the sheets and wrapping it around himself like some sort of cocoon.

Roxas mentally hated himself for being the one to get the phone call. Why couldn't it have been his brother instead! God how he hated him right now. "Fine.." Roxas scowled. "I'll be home soon." He walked over to the door of Sora's room. "Don't do anything too stupid when I'm gone." Roxas said behind his shoulder.

He got a muffled response from Sora. Something sounding like 'Sure'. With that, he continued walking until he made it down the stairs to the front door. He slipped into his shoes with ease, probably since they were so worn out, and then grabbed his keys, before he opened the door and left.

_*****Scene*****_

Unfortunately for both Riku and Axel, hey have to get up early for both of their shitty jobs. But, there was only one more painfully slow day of work before the weekend comes around, thank god. No matter how old you are, the weekends are the thing that people enjoy and look forward to.

Axel was already awake and taking his sweet time getting ready for work, by making some coffee and waffles. Doesn't make much sense since he's going to a cafe in the first place. Hey, whatever floats his boat. Riku on the other hand, was still sleeping in his bed. He's the kind of person that will sleep every second until he has to physically get up.

While Axel was waiting for his coffee to finish, he looked through the kitchen to find his pack of cigarettes. It's a horrible habit, and he tired to stop, but it never really worked out. He even got Riku into it for a while, before he found some will power to stop. Axel smoking constantly around him probably doesn't help that.

He got out, and then took his shiny red lighter, flicking the flame to life, and then lighting the end of the cigarette, blowing out a puff of smoke in front of him. "Much better..." He mumbled to himself, taking another long drag from the noxious smelling stick. That's when he noticed that it was past the time that Riku should of gotten up.

If he doesn't haul his ass out of bed anytime soon, he'll be late. Again. Rolling his eyes, Axel walked out of the kitchen, towards Riku's room, a tiny trail of smoke following behind him as he walked. He walked up to Riku's bedroom door, and pushed it open with his foot. 'He's like a fucking bat...' He thought to himself, looking around at the lack of light in the room. Though he should be use to the way he sleeps by now.

Axel walked up to Riku's bed, making the floor creak slightly when he walked on it. "Riku..." He gently moved his shoulder, trying to wake him up. "Get up, you're gonna be late again." His silver haired friend let out a groan, wrinkling his face in annoyance, and burring his face deeper into his arm.

Axel furrowed his eye brows. "Riku, seriously, get your ass up." He said a little louder this time, hoping it would make some what of a difference. Nothing. Riku just laid there as if he was made of stone, not even bothering to put any effort into moving. He was just about to give up, before the trail of smoke coming from his cigarette caught his attention. He brought it to his mouth, taking one very long drag in, and blowing it all over Riku's face.

This defiantly worked, he should of done this in the first place. Riku started sputtering out a cough and moving out of the way of the smoke that was invading his face. Bright sea foam green eyes opened to see his friend standing above his, holding the cancerous stick in his hand. "Took you long enough." Axel said, taking another drag in, and letting it out. "You're gonna be late."

Riku got hit in the face again with the smoke from Axel, and tried to get it away from his face by waving his hand. "Get that shit away from me.." He said, with a look of disgust on his facial features. "You know I don't like smoking anymore.." He added as an afterthought.

"You didn't think it was shit a few weeks ago." Axel said lazily, not staring at Riku, but looking at the wall across from him.

Riku got up from his bed, taking the sheets off him in the process. "That's because I quit, and you smoking around me all the time doesn't help." The cold air hit Riku's skin, making him shiver, and Goosebumps appear all over his arms. He scanned his eyes around the room to find some hoodie to put on while he was still in the house. There was one on the corer of his bed, which he greedily grabbed and put it on. "What time is it?" He asked while he was getting dressed, sounding muffled.

Axel sniffled, and looked over at the clock. "Seven.." He said, starting to walk away from Riku and out his door. "Come on, I'm making breakfast." He said, grabbing hold of the door and turning his head to look back at Riku. "Looks like you need it." He added, noticing how rough he looked this morning.

"Ugh.." Riku moaned, forcing him self out of bed, and out of his room. He walked past Axel, "Why can't life be amazing and let me work in the afternoon?" He asked, running his hand through his hair, untangling some of the knots that managed to get into his hair while he was sleeping.

Axel smirked. "Because, then the world would be perfect." He said, walking away from his friend towards the kitchen. "And you know that can't happen." He made it into the kitchen, and grabbed two cups out of the cabinet

Riku slowly followed him into the kitchen, shifting his feet against the floor, taking his sweet ass time. "I feel bad for the poor sap that has to spend the rest of their life with me." He said, walking over to the table and chairs, pulling one out for himself, and plopping down, letting his head rest against the table. "I think they'd go insane if they have to deal with the ice-bitch every morning." He said, referring to himself as, ice-bitch. "Hell, even I'd go nuts..."

Riku's eyes were closed, so he couldn't see the amused expression on his friend. "Don't worry, there's got to be at least one person that would love waking up to a dragon every morning." Axel said, laughing to himself, as he pored the coffee into the two cups in front of him. He filled both cups, before he went to go put our his cigarette in the ash try next to the window.

Riku smirked, eyes still closed. "Thanks for making it sound impossible, Axel." He said, letting the smirk on his face still stay.

"Hey," Axel grabbed the two cups, and walked over to Riku, sitting down right next to him and placing the cups on the table. "It's not that impossible." He reassured, but then hear Riku scoff, and grab his coffee. "You'll just have to keep an eye out for the people that are too nice for their own good." He said, grabbing his own cup with both hands. "Like that Sora kid." He said, letting a sly smile come on his face.

Riku's eyes opened, and he lifted his head off the table. "Don't even go there, Axel." He warned his friend.

"What!" Axel whined out, trying to act as if he said nothing wrong. "I was just trying to name off some people." Riku was just about to say something again, before Axel beat him to it. "But think about it-" Riku shot him a glare. "No really! He's way too nice, even for his own good." Axel said, seeing the glare from his friend was still strong as ever. "I'm sure he'd love waking up to deal with you every morning."

Riku rolled his eyes, taking another sip from his drink. "You're not gonna let it go until something happens are you..." He asked, even though he perfectly knew the answer he was going to get.

"Of course." Oh how did Riku see that coming? "You know how stubborn I am, even when it doesn't involve me in any way, what so ever." He said, smirking to himself. "But seriously, don't you think-"

"If I said not to go there, why are you still talking about it?" Riku asked, closing his eyes and breathing in the scent of the coffee. Mmm, hazelnut; His favorite.

"Fine," Axel said, not making eye contact with Riku. "I'll shut up," He took a sip from his coffee. "for now anyways." He added as an afterthought.

Riku sighed, and then pushed his chair back, coffee mug still in his hand. "I have to go get ready or else I'll be late." He said, starting to walk out of the kitchen and towards his room. "Thanks for the breakfast." He shouted back, over his shoulder, holding up the cup.

"Anytime cupcake!" Axel shouted back, a little louder than he intended, but at least he knew he was heard. "Maybe Sora could make your breakfasts as good as mine in the future!"

Riku's only response was closing the bathroom door on his friend, and getting on with his day. He did all his morning routines; Taking a shower, brushing his teeth, and getting dressed, in a shocking twenty minutes. Usually Riku just takes his sweet ass time getting himself ready, considering he is usually dragging himself along in the mornings.

Maybe the cup of Joe really did give him the kick he needed. At least he wasn't going to be late for work again. It's bad enough getting there late, but then having his boss throw a hissy fit every time doesn't sound like such a thrilling experience.

After Riku finished getting ready, he walked past the living room and saw Axel sitting on the couch watching TV. One silver eyebrow rose at the scene in front of him. "Aren't you going to work?" He asked, walking over, buttoning the last few buttons on his shirt.

"I am." Axel said, flipping the channels. "But Selphie told me that I have to come in an hour later..." He stopped flipping through the channels. "not sure why..." He drifted off, thinking about it to himself.

Riku finished the last button, but still ended up leaving the first two open. "Maybe it's her way of saying, 'Don't come back here'." He said, plopping down next to Axel so Riku could tie his shoes.

Axel let out a laugh. "I wouldn't be surprised." He said. "I'm still not sure how she has dealt with me for this long." He said, seeing Riku get up off the couch from the corner of his eye.

"Don't question it." Riku said, straightening up and dusting any imperfections off his shirt. "Or else she probably will fire you." He said, shooting Axel a smirk. He turned on his heel and walked over to the closet to get his jacket; He did need it since it felt like twenty degrees below zero. "I'm leaving," The zip of the zipper was heard. "see you when I get back."

Riku opened the door and heard Axel mutter "goodbye" before he walked outside towards his car.

_*****Scene*****_

_'Well that was a complete waste of time...'_ Roxas thought angrily to him self once he finished walking down the stairs from the building. The little 'meeting' that he was suppose to go to was, no lie, a grand total of forty six seconds. He thought he would have to stand there and talk and talk and talk and blah blah blahh...

No. He popped in, got the papers, and left. What was the whole point in going! Couldn't they have mailed it to him? It would only be an extra day to wait for the papers. But no, life just has to completely suck. Oh well, what's done is done. Bitching about it isn't going to open some secret vortex that leads to the past so he can get the papers mailed to him instead.

Roxas made it to his car, with some difficulty, since there were so many cars in the parking lot. It was easy to get lost...But! Never the less, he found his car. That's what really counts. After a few moments of struggling to find his keys, he finally did. With that, he opened his car door and got it, dropping the papers onto the passenger seat.

He sighed, running his fingers through his hair, and falling back against the leather seat, closing his eyes. Roxas just sat there for a few minutes, utterly exhausted from...doing nothing. Actually, that was a lie. He did stay up to some un godly hour in the morning, since he couldn't fall asleep. Now he has to spend all day working on the new papers he got. What...a...pain...

"Ugh." He yelled out loud, before grabbing the door and closing it shut. He was not a happy camper this morning. If he was even going to attempt to stay up, he needed coffee. Now. Roxas did have two options. One, go home and make some himself. Or two, go to an actual coffee shop and buy some.

Every time he did try to make some by himself, it never turned out as good as the coffee shops. It's like they do some secret way of mixing everything together, like adding magic or something. Who knows how they make it taste amazing. But after a little bit of debating, he finally decided on going to the cafe. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his wallet, and opened it.

At that very moment, the world seemed to get a little brighter for Roxas; Turns out he had some money, and just enough to get his favorite beverage. With a flick of his wrist, he flung his wallet in the passenger seat, letting it land onto the papers that were already there. He then backed out of his parking space, and drove until he made it onto the road.

Even with only living in this town for a week or so, he already knew where everything was. Unlike his god forsaken brother, he remembers where he goes; That's why Roxas had no problem finding anything. About a good ten minutes passed of Roxas driving, and he finally made it to the cafe. With some difficulty, thanks to some idiot driver who wasn't watching where he was going and almost crashing into him. BUT, other than that, his ride went smoothly.

Roxas looked around and saw that there weren't as many cars parked as he expected. He glanced at the clock on his car radio and saw that it was still early into the morning. He thought that the whole morning rush would still be there. Guess not. He found a parking spot and then turned off his car, grabbing his wallet that was on the seat next to him. Roxas got out of the car, and pushed the door closed, looking around the outside of the building. It was actually, nice. It wasn't run down and old looking like some of the buildings on the street.

When Roxas made it inside the cafe, the strong smell of coffee and cookies hit his senses. A much more refreshing scent than the polluted air outside. Roxas heard the bell over the entrance ring when he let the door close behind him and then walk up to the counter. He ended up stopping behind some old lady, that smelled like cigarettes. Not a good switch from the amazing smell of coffee and cookies.

Roxas looked up at the board in front of him, trying to see what to get._ 'Let's see, should I get an iced coffee?'_ He thought to himself, shifting his weight from side to side and squinting his eyes a bit. He wasn't the best at seeing things far away. _'No'_ He thought arguing with his own choices. _'Today's already cold enough..'_ Roxas looked over at the choices above._ 'Hmm, I'll get the...'_ He took a step forward since the line moved up, and the kept on scanning till he found what he wanted, occasionally clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth. _'White Chocolate Mocha sounds good.'_

The voice of the cashier broke Roxas out of his thought. "Can I help who's next?" asked the person. Roxas still was staring at the menu above him, but took a few steps forward till he reached the counter, and placed his hands on it. "So, what's it gonna be today?" Asked the cashier again, pressing a bunch of buttons on the cash register.

"Umm, I'll have a white chocolate mocha, please." Roxas took his eyes off the menu bored and looked at who he was talking to. Instantly he was met with a mess of spiky red hair. "Axel?" He asked out loud, bringing his attention to him. Sure enough it was Axel, but Roxas couldn't tell at first, since Axel wasn't even making eye contact. I wonder if he always, never looks at his customers...

Green eyes met blue. "Roxas!" He shouted, getting a grin on his face. "I didn't even see you." He said, bringing his hand up to scratch his cheek. That's when Roxas noticed the little triangles he hand under his eyes. How on earth did he not notice that before? "What are you doing here?" He asked, leaning on the cash register to get closer to Roxas.

Roxas picked up his hand to show him the money that he was holding. "Coffee." He said back shortly, stating the obvious. Well, it was obvious to him anyways. Roxas was still staring at Axel's tattoos, and just couldn't resist asking; ""Were those always there?" He pointed to his own cheek, emphasizing where Axel had his tattoos.

Axel rose an eye brow and touched his own face, then getting a look of realization on his face. "Oh!" He exclaimed, "These?" He asked pointing to the tattoos. Roxas nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, I've gotten them years ago." He said, smiling to himself. "Did you just notice them or something?"

Roxas felt a bit of heat come to his face, while he cracked out a smile. "Well, I couldn't help but look and then I started thinking if you always...had them..and.." Roxas stopped talking, so he would stop rambling and making more of an idiot of himself. He cleared his throat, and then blinked a few times. "Sorry.."

The certain tall red head laughed at how easily Roxas could get embarrassed. "It's fine, really. People always ask about them." He said, leaning onto the counter with his elbows. "They even say it makes me look some even more sexier." He said, smirking at his own comment. "What do you think?"

Right after Axel asked that, Selphie walked by carrying some supplies from the back room. Selphie had just happened to over hear what he just said. She glanced at Axel, leaning on the counter, and seeing how red Roxas' face was, then walked over to stand right next to him. "Axel!" She shouted, causing Axel to jump a little. "Stop flirting with the customers and get back to work." She yelled, then replaced the look of annoyance on her face, with a smile towards Roxas. "Is he bothering you?"

When Roxas was going to answer, Axel interrupted, and turned to look at Selphie. "First off, I was working, and not just flirting." He said. To both of the people standing next to him, it sounded like he was trying to convince himself that it was true.

Selphie rolled her eyes at him, and then readjusted the box that she was holding in her hands. "Axel, stop lying to yourself. It's not good for you character." She said, walking away from him. "And seriously, stop flirting with everything that has a pulse!" She yelled over her shoulder before she walked into the back room with the extra supplies.

Axel turned to look back at Roxas with a slight scowl on his face. "Sorry about that. She's very..." He stopped, thinking over his words for a few seconds. "Special...but, before she comes back and yells at me, what did you want to order again?" He asked.

"White Chocolate Mocha." He answered back.

"Ahh, good choice." He said, pressing the buttons on the register. "It's personally my favorite." The bottom part of the register popped out, bringing out all the money to everyone's view.

Roxas handed him the bill that he was holding for what seemed liked ages. "I wouldn't know," He said, while Axel grabbed the paper out of hand and then proceeded to make him change. "I've never tried it."

"Really?" Axel questioned back, handing him his change. "Well it's delicious, trust me." He said with a smirk, then ripped off the receipt and gave it to Roxas. "It's be ready in a few seconds. " He said, then turned around. "Hey, Demyx!" He shouted in the direction of the 'Employees Only' door.

There was a sound of what seemed like crashing silver wear in the back room, proceeded by a few curse words. But out popped Demyx, looking upset. "Axel, you made me drop everything in the back..." He said, dusting off anything that was on his apron. "This better be good." He warned his friend.

Axel laughed at his friend's misfortune, but didn't seem like he cared all that much in the first place. "There's another customer wanting to drink your famous white chocolate mocha." He said, walking over to his friend and picking out a piece of shredded napkin from his hair.

Demyx glared at his friend and swatted his hand away from his hair. "Why couldn't you do it?" He asked, not sounding too happy being the one that was stuck making coffee. "You know how to." He pointed out, then bending down to pick up some of the mess he brought out from the back room.

"Because Demyx.." Axel said, draping his arm around his sandy blonde haired friend. "It's just so much better when you make it." He said, trying to butter up his friend into making it for him. "And you wouldn't want Selphie to know that..." The rest was unheard, since he bent down to whisper it into his ear.

Then Demyx' face got a little flushed, and he pulled away from his friend. "I hate that you always hold that against me.." He said, sulking at having something Axel can use for black mail. "If you were working like you were suppose to then you wouldn't of seen that. "He said, walking away from Axel and getting all the items needed to make the white chocolate mocha.

Roxas noticed that his red head friend had an evil grin on his face, and then walked back over to the counter that he was still standing at. "What did you say to him?" He asked, obviously curious to what just happened in front of him.

"Oh nothing, really." He said, turning to look at me. "Just something I have against him." Axel glanced at the clock across the store, and brought his gaze back to me. "Hey, looks like I go on break in a few minutes." He said, bringing his hands behind his back to untie his apron. "You mind if I join you while you drink your coffee?"

Roxas shrugged his shoulders. "I don't care, really." He stated, walking over to where Demyx placed his drink on the counter. "Thanks." He quickly said, grabbing the drink and looking for a straw. Then, the white straw popped up in his face from behind him. He turned to see Axel holding the it; Roxas grabbed it and then smiled at Axel, walking to an empty table with him. "Just to let you know, I can't stay here for long." Roxas said, pulling out a chair and sitting down, Axel doing the same across from him.

"It's fine really." Axel said, relaxing in his chair. "My boss is probably gonna yell at me for slacking off on the job if I stay here for too long." Axel said, laughing a little.

Roxas raised an eye brow, and took a sip from his drink. "Aren't you on break?" He asked, bringing his attention back to the coffee in his hands.

Axel let out a chuckle and straightened up in his seat. "Well apparently with her, it seems like I always take breaks." He said, smirking, the glancing over at Roxas. "Which is totally not true by the way." He said, trying to defend the fact that he slacks off at work every chance he got. I mean, come on, who really want to work?

The blonde haired boy sat there and rolled his eyes at his friend. "I think you're lying." Roxas said, taking one more sip from his drink before talking again. "You look like the slacking type, no offense. And no one would defend that they actually work..unless they don't." He pointed out.

"Well aren't you just a smart cookie." Axel commented. "And you kind of are right, I slack anytime I can." He confessed to Roxas. "I have no idea how I haven't been fired yet." He took a few seconds to himself wondering how he still actually has a job here.

Roxas stirred his drink with his straw. "I bet it's your personality." Blue eyes made contact with bright green. "Someone has to perk up his place some how."

Axel smiled. "You're right, how could I have not seen that before?" He asked himself. Axel paused for a few seconds, before talking again. "Speaking of bets, you know ours is still on right?" Saying this, made Roxas choke a little on his drink, and start coughing up a storm. "Hey, you alright?" He asked.

He coughed a few more times, before taking a breath in and letting it out. "Yeah.." He said, blinking away the water from his eyes. "F-fine..." He said, trying to not cough anymore. "I know it still on..." Roxas said, looking at Axel. "And I know I'm gonna win." He said confidently.

"Don't be too sure of your self, Roxas." Axel said, smirking at him. "Do you even know which lottery I picked?" The silence from his friend told him that it was a no. "Well, I was a little short on cash that day, so I picked the one where the prize was what, three hundred bucks? Everyone wins those Roxas, I should know, I have before."

_'Shit..._' Roxas felt his face get a little red because he remembered what he has to do if he lost. Why did he have to be so stupid and take the damn bet? If he knew that what he played, then he would of never agreed to it. God, everyone wins those, hell, even Roxas did a few times! "You didn't tell me that..."

Axel shrugged his shoulders. "You never asked." He said, smirking. "But if I don't win, I'll tell you." He said, bringing his hand up to his face to look at his nails.

Roxas narrowed his eyes. "What if you lied and say you won?" He asked, not wanting to take any chances of losing. "I'd need to see proof if you won." He added an afterthought.

Their conversation was cut short when Axel's boss came into the picture. "Axel, you're break is over, get back to work!" She yelled, bringing his attention to her.

Axel stood up from his chair, and straightened up his apron when he got up. "Duty calls." He said, digging his hand into his pocket and took out a pen. "Here," He grabbed Roxas' hand, and scribbled down some numbers. "Call me sometime tomorrow, because that's when I'll be checking it on the computer." He finished writing down his number and then clicked the pen, and put it back into his pocket. "Don't forget" He said, winking at Roxas before he left to get back to work.

Roxas watched him walk away into the back room, and then glanced at the chicken scratch on his hand. It was still tingling from when Axel actually wrote down the numbers. He sat there, staring at his hand. before it struck him that he needed to get back home and start working on the new papers that he got this morning. He sighed, and grabbed his drink in one hand, while pushing the chair in with the other hand. Roxas made it to the front door, but then Axel stopped him.

"Remember!" He shouted from behind the counter. "Tomorrow! And get ready to lose, Roxas!" He said, with a confident smile.

Roxas looked back to see him, and then let out a little laugh, pushing the door open. "Yeah right." He shouted back, before walking out of the cafe.

_*****Scene*****_

The work place was pretty quiet, in Riku's opinion anyways. Mostly, people were just slacking off, considering that there was nothing to do here in the first place. But what can you do, right? With Riku's luck, he of course had some work to do, or else it just wouldn't be fair.

When he got there, he was greeted by his usual friends; Cloud, who was sitting at his little desk, playing on his computer and trying to kill time. The she witch Kari, who threw yet another fit about Riku not making it to work on time. Not really much of a friend, she is...Sometimes Riku wonders why she just fires him, and gets him out of her hair once and for all. Some questions in life just go without answered.

Riku walked into the locker room, where he saw Wakka standing a few lockers away from his. The sound of the locker being forced opened, took Wakka's attention. "Oh, Riku! I didn't even see that you came in here." He said, smiling, showing off his pearly white teeth. "Appearing out of no where; What are you, a magician?"

"Only on Wednesdays, Wakka." Riku chirped back, not missing a beat. He peeled off his jacket, letting the warm air hit his skin. "How come there isn't much to do here." Riku asked, hanging up his jacket on the hook in his locker. "from what I've seen anyways.." His eyes made contact with his friend.

A look of annoyance made it onto Wakka's face. "Must be a slow day," He shut his locker, turning around to lean on it, shoving his hands in his pocket. "hopefully it means we get to leave early..." He said, eying Riku, waiting for him to finish.

Riku was buttoning the last few buttons on his gray work shirt, making sure to leave the last two unbuttoned. Not like he needed to impress anyone here, it's just been a habit ever since he could remember. "Doubt it," Riku took his shirt and folded it, placing it into his locker. "Kairi would never let us out early, unless the building is on fire...maybe."

The locker echoed in the room when it was shut closed, the sound ringing in both of their ears. "Don't be such a downer Riku." Wakka said, draping his arm around Riku's shoulder, tugging him closer." It doesn't really suite you."

Riku could feel his friend's hot breath on his face, scrunching his face in disapproval. "Hate to break it to you but," He took his arms and pushed him away, getting his personal bubble back. "it's sort of my thing." Wakka bit back his comment, when he saw Riku standing there, brushing off his shoulder.

Hands went up in the air in a defensive manner. "Fine, keep on being all...you like." Wakka said, smirking. "I got to get to work, so, caught ya later?" He walked out of the room, waving back at Riku, who gave a slight smile in return.

"Yeah.." He said, realizing he was left alone in the room. With a sigh, he walked out of the locker room, sliding his hand down the wall, flicking the light off. The sound of his foot steps was heard echo throughout the building, giving Riku a eerie feel. 'Why the hell is no one here today...'

As he thought to himself, Cloud walked past him. "Hey Cloud;" Riku said, stepping forward. Cloud stopped in his tracks and turned around. "why is it so empty today?" He asked, walking even closer to his friend.

Cloud rose his brows, "Well hello to you too, Riku." Cloud said, making Riku roll his eyes and tap his foot impatiently. "Um, I'm not too sure why it looks like a ghost town…" Cloud looked around, scratching his cheek.

"Well was there a memo or something that we weren't suppose to go in for work?" Riku asked, looking around the building. There were only three cars here, which would take any skilled mechanic to fix in one day. God knows why we're all here. Crossing fingers and hope won't harm anyone and maybe people will get to go home.

Cloud whipped out his phone after the 'beep-beep' noise went off; notifying him that he had a text or something. "Don't ask me," He said, clicking away on the keyboard on his phone. "I never check my E-mail."

As if she knew people were talking about work, Kairi walked in. She was dressed up as usual; Fitted jacket, straight pant leg, hair done up all nice. Funny that she works here, Huh? "Hello boys." She said.

They waved back, acknowledging that she greeted them; Except Cloud. He was too busy wrapped up into his texting to care. "So as you might have noticed," Kairi started. "it's kinda slow today, so I obviously won't need all of you here." Cloud stopped texting for a second at the mention that he could go home early. "So in other words," She said, playing with her hair. "you guys can work until noon and if nothing comes up, see you tomorrow." With that, she walked away and went back into her office.

Everyone was pretty much happy to hear that. Who wouldn't want to get sent home early; especially on a Monday. Sure the lack of money made it suck a little but what can you do.

Everyone worked on the little bits and pieces that needed to be done today. No one really talked. Mostly because of the Monday blues, or maybe it was because they knew if all the work was done then everyone gets to go home.

A few hours went by. Nothing new came up. All the work was done about an hour before noon. Cloud, Riku, and Wakka were sitting around talking to each other next to a car. Their conversation was interrupted by the clicking of heels across the room. Kairi was coming over with papers in hand. "Hey guys…I'm swamped with work so I'm gonna make this quick. Go home." See said, turned right around and walked back. "See you tomorrow bright and early!" She said, waving bye behind her.

Riku didn't seem to happy. Things were getting more expensive lately. He didn't mind being sent home, but an hour earlier than he was told? Bullshit. That makes a huge difference to his paycheck. Probably need to pick up more shifts the rest of this week to make up for today.

…Fuck

_*****Scene*****_

"Sora!" Roxas shouted, once he made it inside the house. "I'm home!" He kicked off his shoes next to the door, and took off his scarf with the one free hand he had that wasn't holding his coffee and the new work papers. 'Where the hell is he..' He thought to himself. When he was walking down the hallway to the living room, he noticed that the television was on.

With a raised eye brow, he walked into the room, behind the couch and looked down. Sure enough, Sora was laying there sleeping with the blanket covering him up to his eyes. Roxas rolled his eyes, and then placed the scarf on the couch, and walked around the couch so he could sit where Sora was sleeping.

Roxas was mixing what was left of the drink in his cup with his straw, while he was staring at the TV. His brother sure does watch weird shows. Right now, it was some show about this one guy with a horrible accent, being stuck in the wild and showing people how to survive.

What the hell. Who on earth, would every find themselves in that situation? Honestly, unless they planned to vacation in the desert, or some sort of swamp infested land, no one will ever find them selves in those sort of places. Though, it is very interesting to watch this guy show you what's needed to 'survive'.

Roxas took a sip of his drink, while watching the guy on TV. Right now, he was about to swim across a freezing cold river; Naked. "This guy is insane..." Roxas muttered to himself, slowly getting addicted to this show. But, Roxas said that a little too loud, and then ended up waking Sora.

Sora took a deep breath in, and stretched out his arms and legs, kicking Roxas in the process. He turned his face to look at Roxas, his spiky brown hair covering most of his vision. "When did you get here?" He asked, dropping his head back onto the pillow.

"Just a few minutes ago." He said, eyes glued to the TV. "You know that this freak is swimming through ice cold water, naked?"

By now, Sora was already sitting straight up, watching the same thing his brother was watching. "Yeah, he does stuff like that all the time." Sora said quietly. "I'm not sure how he's still alive..." He muttered out to himself, now thinking more about it.

Roxas snorted out a laugh as he smirked. "The camera crew probably throws him an energy bar every now and then." He said, laughing a little more. "No way can this guy live on the stuff he eats out there. Which is fucking disgusting by the way.." He said, taking one last sip from his cup and then getting up to throw it away.

"You know! That's what I was thinking!" Sora agreed, turning around in his spot to see his brother over the couch. "But just think about it..." He started, bringing his brother's attention to him. "If they were giving him little bars and such...why on earth would he resort to eating half the stuff that he does?" He asked.

Roxas walked back over, a look of concentration on his face, and then sat down next to Sora again, crossing his arms over his chest. "Maybe, it's to get more people to watch his show?" He suggested. "Only reason I can think of.." He said, drifting off his train of thought.

"Well it's obviously working." Sora said, commenting on the fact that they were both glued to the couch watching him eat some bugs...Yuck. The things people watch these days, is so disgusting. Yet they can't help but to just sit there and soak in everything they see like some sort of dry sponge. "Hey, so did you ever end up getting those papers?" He asked, breaking their concentration from the show to something actually important.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that.." Roxas patted down the empty spot next to him to look for the papers; And with some effort he found them. "Here, knock yourself out." He said, tossing the papers to Sora, which landed in his lap.

Sora had a slight scowl on his face, picking up the item in his lap. 'Well someone is in a bad mood...' He thought, opening the envelope. "Don't you think we should do this now, since it's due in...Oh I don't know, a day?" Sora suggested, putting out the wad of papers from the ugly yellow colored envelope.

Roxas ran his fingers through his hair. "I just don't know why they waited till the last fucking second." He spat out. Roxas snapped his head to look at his brother. "Would it really have killed them to tell us a few days, no, a week before?"

"You know how people are," Sora flipped through the papers, cringing at the amount of work they had to finish. "So let's get started on this…the sooner we start, the sooner I can go back to bed."

Roxas smirked and rolled his eyes. "Is that all you ever care about?" He asked, turning down the volume on the TV and getting more comfortable on the couch.

"Unfortunately, yes. That's all I care about." Sora said, yawning and stretching his arms above his head. His shirt rose up an inch or two, showing off his tan stomach. "Now come on," He dropped his arms to his sides again. "let's get this done."

"Agreed." Roxas said quietly.

Sora split up the ridiculous amount of papers so they'd have an equal amount to work on. Roxas was given most of the work on actually designing the new building, where Sora, the sly fox that he was, gave himself all the papers to finalize. Which merely required the signing of some names and occasional skimming through the papers.

Who knows how long they both spent there, sitting on the couch in silence, working. But it was long enough to make their eyes blurry from starring at the papers too long.

Roxas was handling the work, pretty well for complaining about it non stop. He just sat there, enjoying the rare peace and quiet. Wish it could be the same for his brother.

Oh Sora, he couldn't stand sitting there. He just can't bear sitting in one spot for more than an hour, except when he's sleeping; But that's a different story. Sometimes people wonder if he has a _slight_ case of ADD.

Sora sighed, louder than necessary, and shoved his hand in his already tangled up hair. "How can you do it…" He asked, flipping through the pages harshly.

Roxas looked up from his papers, "Do what?" He asked, going back to his work.

Sora dropped his pen, and leaned back so his head was resting against the arm rest. "This!" He shouted, staring up at the ceiling. "I just can't….sit here for hours and hours." Sora started to count the circular designs on above him.

Roxas rolled his eyes and straightened up in his seat. "Why are you complaining?" He asked, stretching his arms above his head and letting out a yawn. "You picked all the easy stuff to do anyways…" He pointed out.

Sora glared at his brother. "It's not like you trust me to do any of the _important_ stuff anyways." He said, emphasizing his point.

Roxas got up from his seat, pushing the papers off his lap onto the couch and walked over to the kitchen to grab a glass of water. "Well maybe if you showed me you could do it," Roxas turned on the sink and stuck the cup underneath it. "then I'd let you."

"Oh whatever, I still can't focus anymore…" Sora complained again. He tried stretching again to see if it would help with his terrible case of ADD. But, it didn't. "Ugh, I think I should take a walk or something.." Sora suggested, trying to convince his brother it would be a good idea.

At this point, Roxas didn't want to deal with his brother complaining the entire time, so he would agree to anything right now. "Sure, if that's what it takes to make you more attentive…not sure how it would…" Roxas said, drinking his last spit of water and placing the glass into the sink to be washed later; Hopefully.

"Good, because I was going to go anyways." Sora said with a smile. He hopped off the couch and took one final stretch before going towards the closet to grab a coat and some gloves since it was still a little cold out. "I'll be back in twenty minutes." He said, putting on his gloves and fixing his coat.

Roxas walked back into the living room and sat on the arm rest, facing Sora, who seemed to b having some difficulty zipping up his jacket. "You're going out dressed like that?" Roxas asked, looking at his choice of clothes.

Sora stopped fumbling with his jacket and looked up at his brother, before glancing down at himself. "What's wrong with it?" He asked. It was nothing too nice; A hoodie that was a little baggy, and some gray sweat pants. Comfort clothes is what some would call his outfit.

"You just look like a slob." Roxas commented, holding back some of the things he wanted to say.

"Right, and I won't get kidnapped thanks to my…not…stylish…..persona…" Sora said, sounding more and more like an idiot to himself with every passing second. Finally he just dropped talking with his brother and kept on getting dressed to go outside. "So," He put one shoe on. "I'll be back in a few minutes." Sora put the other shoe one and waved good bye to his brother.

The door closed shut and then Roxas felt slightly alone. He'd hate to admit it out loud for others to hear; Bu he always misses Sora's obnoxiousness whenever he leaves. But sometimes, he _does_ need his space.

The snow was lightly falling from the dark sky. White light from the street lights illuminated the snow from the ground. Occasional small gusts of wind came and swirled up the little flocks of snow in Sora's face and hair.

He breathed in the crisp cold air, a smile coming onto his face when he exhaled. Each step he took, Sora could feel and hear the snow sinking into the ground under his shoes. God how he loved the winter; It was just so, breathtaking. Much better than some of the other seasons; Well, in his opinion anyways.

Sora kept on walking down his street, planning to only walk around the block and then back home. One so he doesn't freeze to death from being out too long, and so Roxas doesn't throw a fit when he comes home hours later.

It was pretty silent, not counting the occasional car that drove past. Or a dog that barks when Sora walks by their home. He was rounding the corner, already almost done with the entire block.

Sora was spacing out when a familiar black car sped past him and drove up into the driveway in front of him. The headlights went out, and the driver seat door opened. Familiar shiny silver hair came out of the car, and there was Riku, standing on the drive way.

He closed the door, and locked it, turning around to fix something in his hands. Sora kept on walking, coming closer to him; Riku must of heard his foosteps since his head snapped up to look at him. "Oh, Hey. What are you doing out here?" He asked, his sea foam eyes shining in the light.

Sora smiled, and walked closer. "Just taking a walk." He answered back, warming up his hands by rubbing them together.

Riku raised an eyebrow and his hair flew into his face when a gust of wind came across both of them. "In the middle of winter?" He asked, thinking it was a bit odd.

Sora shivered and shut his eyes from the cold. "Yeah, kind of silly isn't it?" He asked, sniffling a bit.

Riku looked at him for a moment before he spoke. "You look like you're freezing." Staring at him, seeing Sora shiver ever now and then. "Come on," Riku said walking to the front door of his house. "I'll make you some coffee-"

"Oh no, really!" Sora exclaimed. "I don't want to be too much of a burden." He said, scratching the back of his head.

Riku pretty much ignored what he said and opened the door. "You coming or not?" He asked, looking back for a bit before stepping inside.

Sora was about to protest before another gust of wind came and blew snow in his face. "Yeah, be right there." He said, walking through the snow up to the door.

Instantly he was met with bright light, and heat which melted the freezing feeling he had away. Sora pealed off one of his gloves, while taking the view in. '_Shoot…he sure has a nice house.'_ He thought, taking off the other glove.

He felt awkward standing there in his house; it was too nice to really now what to do there. Where should he put his shoes. Or should he leave them on? Where is he hanger for his coat…what does he do with his gloves? Oh shit…he brought snow into the house. Oh. Dear. God-

"Sora" He was snapped from his inner panic attack. "You can you know….walk into the kitchen?" Riku asked, standing in the hall way across from him.

A blush came into Sora's face. Then he grinned. "Y-yeah. Coming.." He took his shoes off and then looked around as to where to put then. He looked up to ask Riku, but he was back in the kitchen, making noise with the pots and cups. So he just, placed them right next to the door, making sure they take up the least space as possible.

He walked down the hallway, looking at the photos in the frames and soaking in the new surroundings. 'Really…really nice place.' He thought to himself. He came to the end of the hallway; seeing the kitchen on the left and the living room on his right side. Both rooms were neat and tidy. Everything in it's place and what not.

"What do you want to drink-" Riku asked, breaking Sora out of his daze. "Coffee? Tea? I think we have some Hot Chocolate somewhere here…" He was muttering to himself, while looking through the cabinets.

Sora waved his hands in front of him. "Oh no no. No thank you. I don't want anything." This didn't stop Riku from getting the coffee mugs out of the top cabinet.

"You're getting something. Might as well pick or I'll pick for you."

"Oh…..ummm-" Sora bit his lip and mused for a moment. "Hot chocolate." He chirped out.

Riku took the packet from the box and shook it. "Give it a few minutes." He said, pouring the powder into the cup, and dropping a spoon into it for stirring later.

Sora sat down on the chair at the island in the middle of the kitchen. "So-" He said, playing with the napkin in front of him. "how was work today. If you went of course."

Riku shrugged his shoulders. "It was completely dead." He started, picking up the kettle with the hot water. "Everyone got sent home early. That's why I'm here." He poured the water in Sora's cup first then into his.

It was silent for the most part; you could only hear the sound of the spoon hitting the cup when he stirred. "I was sorta happy I left; Just because I was exhausted." Riku turned around and sat across from Sora, handing him his drink.

Sora smiled and grabbed the cup. "Thanks." He quickly said, before bringing it up to his face and blowing on it. "I love hot chocolate." He said, taking a sip. "It reminds me of when my mother use to make it all the time when my brother and I were kids."

Riku was silent for a moment, spacing out on the counter. He was about to say something, before a loud slam was heard across the house. The front door open, and you could hear shoes being kicked off and the door being closed.

"Axels home." Riku said.

Sora looked a little shaken from Axels rather loud entrance. "Oh. Should I leave?" He asked, already scooting a little off his seat.

Riku shook his head. "No. You could if you want to. I'm not making you stay." He said, making sure Sora didn't feel pressured to leave or stay.

"It's so damn cold out!" Axel shouted while walking into the kitchen. He stopped in his track when he saw Sora and Riku sitting together. Then a smirk came on his face. "Oh…Riku, I didn't know you had company." He said giving Riku a look.

Riku was glaring at him, because he knew Axel was thinking way more was happening between them at the moment. Sora on the other hand was happy to see him. Like he always is when anyone comes into the picture.

Sora waved to Axel. "Hey!" He said cheerily. "How are you?" He asked.

Axel shrugged, walking closer to them, loosening his tie. "Oh I'm great. But enough about me. Lets talk about you guys." He said, sitting right between Sora and Riku. He put his elbows on the table and his chin in his hands. "What have you two buddies been up too, hmm?" He asks with a grin on his face.

"Should you be taking a shower or something, Axel?" Riku interrupted, clearly getting annoyed by his friends antics.

"I should go home now anyways. Roxas is probably wondering where I am." Sora said, before getting up. When he straightened out his shirt, he caught a quick glimpse of Riku's face. It almost looked as if he was, disappointed?

Sora shook that thought away. "It was nice seeing you Axel" He said, before taking his cup and putting it in the sink. "Thanks for inviting me over Riku." He said with a smile.

Riku scratched the back of his head. "Sure. No problem." He said quietly.

Sora half smiled. "I'll just show myself out. Thanks again Riku. See you guys around." He said, showing off those bright white teeth. Sora waived while he walked away from the kitchen.

Riku and Axel aid their goodbyes but didn't move from their spots. They could hear Sora put on his shoes, and open the door, quietly closing it behind him. Not even a second after, Axel grinned like the Cheshire Cat and looked at Riku.

"What…"

Axel shook his head. "Can't believe you didn't walk your date to the door." He said. "How un-classy!"

Riku glared at him. "He wasn't my date!" He argued back. "I just invited him for some coffee because he was cold." He said. To Riku it seemed innocent.

On the other hand, Axel was thinking every sexual reason to why Riku invited him over. "Oh I'm sure. You just wanted to get him in the house so you can 'warm' him up with your body heat." He said.

Riku just rolled his eyes and got up from his chair. "It wasn't like that, Axel…" He put the cup into the sink before turning the water on to wash the two mugs.

Axel let out a little laugh. "Hey it's ok. Sorry I had to interrupt though. But I could tell you didn't get very far since he only had his jacket off. Man you're losing your touch." He started laughing to himself, like it was the funniest thing in the world.

Riku turned off the sink and dried off his hands. "Fine fine. You can poke fun at me all you want. Nothing is going on between Sora and I." He started to walk away, then stopped once he got to the hallway. "Unlike you and Roxas." He said with a smirk. "Yet…you got no where either. Looks like someone else is losing their touch too."

Axel quieted his laughing, but still had a grin on his face. "Touché, Riku….touché."

Riku smirked one more time before he went up the stairs, the creaking of the floor could be heard above Axel. He was still sitting there, thinking what Riku said. Then, he got a sly smile on his face. _'Just wait Riku. I'll get somewhere with Roxas.'_

* * *

**A/N:** So. Yeah. Been like what…2 years since I posted? To be honest…completely lost interest and forgot about it :/ But hey…at least I got another chapter hahahaha


	7. Notice

Dear Readers,

I don't know about you, but I'm slowly losing interest in this story. Could be because I have, ohhh I don't know...a life now? I had to literally force myself to finish writing the last chapter. The only reason I even finished it, was because I had a paragraph left to write.

I'm thinking of just...taking another break. I don't feel like writing it all the time. Maybe I'll update it down the road, maybe not. For now, I'm saying that this story, sadly, is coming to a close. I did start the next chapter a while ago, just don't have the motivation to write it.

Hopefully I'll kick my butt into gear and keep writing, but not for now.

Sorry /3

_~ElectricGhost_


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